


A Choice You Make Again and Again

by Kryssa



Series: Five Years Later [2]
Category: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: But still working on communication, Consensual Sex, Dreams and Nightmares, Experimentation, F/M, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Healthy Relationships, Historical Research, Homicide via Eternatus, Introspection, Love Confessions, Love Triangles, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Panic Attacks, Pokemon Death, Reconciliation, Science Fiction, Songfic, Still won't hold up in a reasonable court, Unrequited Love, dragons don't do slow burn, grown-ups doing grown-up things
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:06:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 76,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22802275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kryssa/pseuds/Kryssa
Summary: Now that Leon is no longer the Champion and things are changing for the younger generation, perhaps the future will shift in a direction that Sonia has never expected. When she decides to accept an invitation to go out dancing with Nessa and Raihan, she finds out that there may be more than one dream and more than one kind of happiness.Chapter 12: “That would be… an astounding find! Additional Legendary Pokémon in Galar, protecting our neighbors from the Darkest Day!” Then she stops, and the real punchline of this finding hits her like one of Boltund’s shocks. “They’re Pokémon that might not be destroyed by Eternatus.”This is the divergence from my first story 'Your World Was Not Mine (Your Eyes Told Me So)', and will run parallel to the original.
Relationships: Dande | Leon/Sonia, Hop/Yuuri | Gloria, Kibana | Raihan/Sonia
Series: Five Years Later [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1606918
Comments: 32
Kudos: 103





	1. And You, My Love, Are Gone

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own the Pokémon franchise by any stretch of the imagination. Nor do I own the song The Chain by Ingrid Michaelson, which serves as the original theme song for the early part of the story. However, the song that seems to fit this new relationship is Momentum by Vienna Teng.
> 
> Author’s Notes: I have chosen the minimal age requirement to participate in the Gym Challenge as 16, as I am too much of an old lady to believe that 10 year olds should be allowed to run around the country with biological weapons of mass destruction. I am also working under the belief that Leon/Sonia/Raihan are about 10 years older than Hop/Gloria, given the size/life experience discrepancy.
> 
> I also researched way too much about Hop’s future field of expertise. Since his choice to become a professor seems to come a little out of nowhere, I’m trying to reframe it so that it does make more sense (let me know how you feel). As such, I do get a little heavy with the terminology in trying to make the situation as realistic as possible. Also, I spent an ungodly amount of time thinking about details.

When Sonia looks at Hop looking at Gloria, she realizes that she sees the past playing out in the future. Of the many things she knows, and she likes to think that she knows quite a bit more than she lets on, she is very much an expert on being in love with someone that the rest of the world loves too.

She wonders if there’s a way to spare Hop the experience from walking further down that road, but also knows that while some knowledge can be acquired in a purely theoretical fashion, there is some knowledge that can only be understood if it’s empirically gained. And while she may be his friend, and even Gloria’s, she is also his mentor and a scientist at her core. It is her job to help him learn, even if the lesson learned is going to hurt like a sonovabitch.

But she’s neither heartless or hopeless, though, and for the moment she lets them sit together on the sofa, drinking tea and talking about Pokémon with the joyful energy of young twenty-somes who are finally finding a place for themselves. If she tries hard enough, she can see the way the setting sunlight gives Gloria a halo of red hair and that shadows cast against Hop’s face and jaw make him look so heartbreakingly familiar.

Sonia never got the chance to sit with him like this, not since they were ten, and certainly never got to make his favorite tea or laugh about her Yamper’s latest antics or one of a million missed moments or just the chance to be friends _to be more_.

_Because he’s gone. Always gone._

The sky is starting to fade to black, and she can hear the wind fussing like a tired toddler through the trees outside. The sound shakes her out of her head, and she opens her mouth to warn Gloria that now would be a good time to get back to her mother’s house before the rain comes. And that Hop should head to his borrowed room upstairs, and Sonia can clean up and go to bed by herself and not have to watch them pine for each other the way they have for a painfully long time. She looks at her young friends and can only think _I know where this shall lead, but perhaps…._

So she decides to say nothing; just keeps sipping her tepid tea and puttering around the mansion while the duo bask in each other. The house feels so cold since Gran died a year ago, but she’s working on making it fit just right. It’s not until the rain starts falling in earnest that she finally returns to the sitting room.

“Gloria, where are you staying tonight?”

The young woman blinks at her, interrupted from her conversation, but quickly says, “I was going to head to Postwick in a bit.”

“Hmm, think again. The rain’s looking vicious, and I’d hate to have the Champion drown by accident.”

Both her and Hop look out the window, genuinely surprised by the change in weather; Sonia offers them a smile. “Let’s make some dinner and have ourselves a sleep-over.”

The relief in Hop’s eyes is gold-bright when Gloria finally agrees, and her and Sonia begin swapping recipes until they agree on meat pies and go to work. Two hours later, the three of them are contentedly sitting around the table, too full to take their plates and silverware to the sink. Sonia lets the duo do the bulk of the talking, though she is more than happy to answer a question or jump in if the subject is particularly thrilling, but really all she wants is the chance to enjoy their company without the weight of reality.

She wants to see Hop and Gloria happy, even though she knows ( _gods, does she know_ ) that the combination of Professor and Champion is doomed to fail. She has lived that failure a dozen times over.

Finally, Sonia stands up and stretches. “Gloria, would you be a dear and feed Yamper and the others? Hop can help me with the washing up.”

Gloria is delighted to do it; she feeds Yamper, Dubwool, her Cinderace, and anyone else who has been freed from their pokéballs with a hearty serving of spicy sausage curry. They love it, and she coos and pets everyone as they eat. She looks so natural sitting in the middle of the “poke-pile”, pawprints on her dress and curry on her hands, that it’s almost jarring. Yesterday – literally – she was having a mock battle against both Bede and Marnie, wearing her Gloria-sized cape and Champion outfit like she was born to rule.

“She looks like a fuckin’ queen,” Hop had whispered as he watched the match, absolutely blind and deaf to the rest of the world, and Sonia could only agree and think about a man who looked like a king when he stood where she stood.

Kings and queens aren’t meant to be with those who don’t wear a crown, much less those who have failed to take it for themselves.

But at this very moment she looks like Gloria from Postwick, like Hop’s best friend of almost fifteen years, like she would like nothing more than to feed and play with Pokémon for the rest of her life. Sonia is willing to let her live the lie for one more day.

The kitchen is cleaned, Pokémon are groomed and cuddled and settled for the night, and Sonia is ready for bed now. She yawns and says, “I’ll see you two in the morning. Good night, loves.”

She doesn’t bother to tell Gloria where the guest rooms are; Hop will take care of her, one way or another. Sonia momentarily regrets letting this happen when she starts to hear some unambiguous noises floating down the hall as she’s crawling into bed an hour later. They’re attempting to be quiet, so that’s nice, but the real thorn in her side is that their efforts to happiness just grate on her. It’s as if her body is wrong, her room is wrong, her whole world is wrong because she shouldn’t be here by herself.

But that’s wrong too, because she’s always been alone. She’s never had the chance to get him into her room, much less her bed, and even with all the time they’ve spent together ever since the Rose Incident he treats her like a companion. A close one, yes… but it’s not enough. Probably will never be enough.

Sonia sighs and rolls over in bed, turning on some soft classical music from her Rotom Phone so she can fall asleep thinking of violins and flutes rather than dark hands she wants to hold and a chest so broad she could pitch a tent on it.

It doesn’t work. It never does.

* * *

Sonia remembers the first time he broke a promise, and the first time she realized how far away he was drifting.

They had fought their final battle as rival trainers, and he won. He always won, but this was the end. He beat her in the semi-finals, and went on to become the youngest Champion in Galar history (even beating out a few other Champions from other regions, too). He had promised that they would always be friends, him and her. That no matter what happened, he would definitely come by to visit Wedgehurst as often as possible, and he wouldn’t stop being there for her if she needed him.

But when her grandfather died just a year later, her beloved Granda who first taught her about Pokémon battles, he couldn’t make it into town. Oh sure, Mr. and Mrs. Terrene came to offer their regards, but only a very young Hop trailed after them. Her grandmother seemed to take his absence in stride, nodding sagely about how ‘it’s just not possible for the Champion to drop his important work on such short notice’, but Sonia didn’t feel like that. She felt wounded, betrayed, absolutely destroyed _because he promised to be here if I needed him. Well, now I need him and he’s not here._

When she called him the night of Granda’s funeral, his youthful voice was deep with remorse and sorrow. “Sorry I wasn’t there. I wanted to come, but all day I’ve been busy with dumb stuff.“

“It’s fine. It’s… fine.”

“I’ll come by really soon. I promise!”

“… All right.” And when she hangs up the phone, she realizes that she had been crying through their whole conversation. It surprises her, which just makes her more angry later, that he never drops by.

So Sonia remembers the first time he broke a promise, and it doesn’t make her happy to know that she remembers more than that.

It takes two more months before he’s even in the area, and she has to go to Motostoke with her mum to see him. When she does, he drops down into the booth with a huge smile, and Sonia starts to hate the fact that she loves when he smiles.

“It’s great to see you! Sorry but my days are a big mess. Tell me what’s going on! How have you been?”

They talk like kids, like they just saw each other yesterday, and she wants to forgive him because he means so much to her and he must feel the same too, right? So they see each other sporadically, and Sonia finds that she keeps falling back in love with him. She wants to forgive him because he’s only 11, 12 and just a kid when it first starts but then he’s 18, 19, 20. No matter how much she tries, she never forgets that he just glides in and out of her life like he’s dancing on an oil slick.

When she turns twenty her parents throw a surprise birthday party, and it seems like the entirety of both Wedgehurst and Postwick were invited. She looks for him the whole time, trying not to be too distracted while talking with other people, but that red cape and black hat never appear. Later, when she casually asks her parents about it, they explain that he had indeed been invited and had even RSVP’d with a positive reply but he must have gotten busy or lost or sidetracked _I imagine being the Champion means going off the road from time to time_.

She gets a card from him two days later that she is tempted _so tempted_ to tear up and throw away because it shouldn’t mean anything. It is equal parts painful and infuriating to realize that she doesn’t really want to, that she wants to hold onto any little piece of him that has nothing to do with being the Champion and everything to do with being her best friend.

She starts dating a young man at her uni, and very purposefully loses her virginity to him. They stay together for longer than Sonia expects, but it doesn’t last. She dates here and there, but while she finds temporary joy with each new beau, she doesn’t find that warmth in the depth of her chest that he inspires with only a smile and a hug.

And in the midst of it all he continues to shine so brightly that it’s hard to look at him anymore, and Sonia tries to let go of all the little promises he makes and breaks like cheap wine glasses. Eventually she decides to put her heart in a pokéball and lock it up behind a door with chains made of her own unforgiving, unforgotten frustrations. They still talk and visit from time to time, but she is hyper-aware of the fact that he keeps moving forward and she is stagnant, uncertain and afraid of her future. Gran most certainly disapproves of her timidness and has hinted on more than one occasion that Sonia is bright enough to start working on the Dynamax conundrum and/or Galar’s history if she put her mind to it. Perhaps the old woman is right, but all Sonia can think about is that what she really wants to pursue is a dream long dead and a friend long gone.

It’s poetic and tragic and quite dramatic really, and her gran buys into absolutely none of it. So Sonia is brought into the lab, mentally kicking and screaming, only to discover that she is good at making sense of nonsensical historical matters, and her background as a Pokémon trainer helps round out the research on Dynamaxing. Her studies give her a purpose, makes her feel (almost) whole, so on the occasions when he does pop on by to ask a question or look something up, she can pretend that she’s happy just being his go-to-person-with-answers and doesn’t mind when he slides away like water off glass.

This is where they stand when Gloria and Hop are brought to the lab as bright-eyed teenagers ready to take on the Gym Challenges. She still falls into their comfortable banter and finds herself happy to watch the youngsters go through the same strides that she and he did (albeit a bit older, an amendment to the Gym Challenge rules that she approves of). But then the whole world starts to change, and she is running through the country like a madwoman and they stand together as things fall apart and are put back together, and she is suddenly a professor and Hop now works with her as he traverses his own educational journey and Gloria now bears the crown of the Champion and he… he is more alive than he’s been in almost twenty years.

And all those feelings she’s rid herself of are rushing back because he’s now in her life in a way he hasn’t been since she was ten, with the last few years being particularly trying on her self-control. Now he comes by almost monthly, still wearing red and looking so damn delicious she could eat him up, and has learned to bring sweets from Wyndon to soothe her prickly feelings before heading to his parents’ home.

He and Hop seem to have a better relationship, and she has caught them having deep conversations by the fireplace about things better left unheard. She has also been privy to their fights, which ranged from terse words to Pokémon battles all the way up to an actual throw-down brawl that ended with two black eyes, a ruined pitch, and zero sympathy from either herself or Gloria. Later, Hop admitted to Gloria that it was the first time he’d finally felt like he was his brother’s equal. The heat of the fight made him forget the hero worship or reflexive need to please his brother, and it was a liberating moment. Sonia is glad that there have been no further scraps since that time though she is ready to referee if another were to occur.

But the person he spends the most time with is Gloria, which makes sense of course. Sonia finds that she’s not jealous, especially since anyone with half a brain can see that Gloria’s eyes aren’t on that particular Terrene brother, nor does he treat her like anything but a talented protégé, but she is wistful.

For behind those chains, behind that door, inside that pokéball she’s hidden away is the wish that she could finally give him what she’s wanted to share all this time.

* * *

Sonia is the first one awake the next morning, and doesn’t spend any time lazing in bed. She has something important in the lab to check on and spends only enough time setting on the kettle and toasting some bread before running out the door. She’d have fed the Pokémon too but decides to take advantage of her young friends and make them do it. A note on the table is all they need.

She makes it to the lab in plenty of time. She falls easily into her morning routine of reviewing vitals on the incubating eggs, adjusting the terrarium temperatures, checking the fluctuation levels of Dynamax spots in the country, and visiting the fax machine for any new requests.

Her heart starts to race when she sees the stack of forms sitting in the machine, and quickly pulls them into the office before slamming the door. She shuffles through the papers, a smile spreading on her face as she sees that they are exactly what she has been hoping to see for the past two weeks. A flower of pride blooms in her chest, and she finishes up one final chore before grabbing the stack and running back to the mansion.

When she throws the door open, banging it against the wall and making Yamper jump up from a dead sleep, both Hop and Gloria are already sitting at the dining table eating breakfast. They look tired but have indeed fed all the Pokémon.

“You’re back awfully quickly,” Hop says. “Sorry for the late start. I’ll be at the lab in twenty minutes.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. I’ve got some phenomenal news to share.”

Gloria perks up. “Oh? A new Pokémon species?”

“Your editor has finished reading your second draft?” Hop guesses.

“No to both,” and she triumphantly holds the cover letter in front of her apprentice. “Hop, you’ve been accepted into the DPM program from Unova!”

He shoots up out of the chair so fast it falls down and almost whacks Dubwool on the horn. He takes the paper and stares at it like he’s looking at a newborn. “What… you mean I got it?” he whispers.

“Not just that. It looks like your proposal for the dual degree was accepted, too! You can complete the PhD with Professor Oak while training at the Unova School of Poke-Medicine! All these papers here,” and she drops the folder on the table, “are the forms you need to fill out once you’ve accepted the position, and to get your international passport.”

He finally reads the paper, and it hits him so hard that his expression crumples. “I did it,” he says again, then buries his face in his hand.

A tug at her sleeve, and she sees Gloria with an expression of concerned bemusement. “Hop mentioned that he wanted to be a professor, but what’s all this?”

Sonia is well aware that Hop has not been completely forthcoming about his life goals with Gloria, though she is certain such omissions are motivated by fear and not maliciousness. After last night, she’s willing to bet that they each have full intention of changing that relationship to one of complete transparency.

_Had_ full intention, now. Sonia hates that she’s clairvoyant about doomed romances.

While it should be Hop’s job to enlighten his not-quite-girlfriend, she explains the basics. “A DPM is a Doctorate in Pokémon Medicine, while his intended PhD is in Human-Pokémon Public Health Sciences. Hop came up with the idea to essentially become an expert in Pokémon health who can not only provide medical assistance to wild Pokémon, but also work as part of the public health department and stand on the front line in case of emerging health threats to both humans and Pokémon. Think of a scout or a vanguard in an army – when there’s a new problem, someone has to go and find out what’s going on and communicate his findings to the rest of the world. That would be Hop – running around, searching for answers.”

“That… it sounds very important.”

“As far as I know, no one else has a niche quite like this. Given the issues that occur when Dynamax and Mega Evolution go wrong – to say nothing of the corporations who are abusing Pokémon like the bastards they are – his job could involve a great deal of battling and protecting people as much as healing and helping those in need.”

Gloria looks at Hop, emotions flying over her face like a shadow through maple leaves, until she stands up and enfolds him in a crushing hug. “Hop, this is amazing! You’re amazing! Congratulations!”

It’s a reflex for him to hug her back, and Sonia sees a tear fall onto Gloria’s hair before turning away and giving them a little space. She takes Yamper into the backyard – and both Zacian and Zamazenta are sitting there, waiting patiently for their masters with wagging tails. Yamper dances around the duo before heading off to do her business. Sonia looks down and sees the discarded pokéballs.

“Did you two get out of those?” she points accusingly. Neither looks even remotely shamed. Instead, they jump and down a bit before pointing their snouts at the door. “Ah. Well, your masters are having a moment. Would you settle for me and some leftover curry?”

They let out some rather puppy-ish huffs before laying down; Sonia obediently fetches the leftovers, and the duo eat so much that she goes into the house two more times before they are sated. She takes a seat on the garden bench after brushing away the overnight rain, lets Yamper take a nap on her feet, and talks to no one.

“They’re in the sitting room. Thought it’d be nice to give them some space to talk or whatnot. They’re going to be plenty busy these next few years, so it’s the least I can do. Hop’s degrees, Gloria’s Championship… important work being done on both sides.” She sighs and looks at Zamazenta as it licks the plate clean. “Just between you, me, and the garden, it was one of Gran’s last hopes that Hop could have his new wish come true. She wrote a letter of recommendation for him that I sent posthumously to Oak and the USoPM with my own letter. She’d be so proud of him. _I’m_ really proud of him. But now it’s my turn to make a wish that I’m not sure can come true.”

And now Sonia wants to cry because she knew this was coming, she knew that their dreams would pull them in different directions, and she wants to have hope that they’ll make it through and stay together despite so many years that they’ll have apart….

She remembers the past twenty years of her life mirrored against Hop’s.

“I just wish for them to be happy, you know. It’s a damn shame I didn’t really get to try it, but at least _they_ should.” Zamazenta rests its giant head in her lap, and she strokes it like she’s always petted a Legendary Pokémon. Her legs are going to fall asleep but it’s worth it. “People can’t predict the future, but we sure as hell can recognize a pattern when it hits us in the face. Gloria’s the Champion – she can’t leave Galar for more than a few weeks a year. And Hop’s degrees will take at least seven years to complete. _Seven_ bloody years jumping from Unova to Kanto to Unova again. It may as well be an eternity.”

Zacian huffs at the word from its place next to Yamper.

“It’s true. There’s so much that can happen in that time. Look at the last five – it’s been a whirlwind, hasn’t it? I just…,” and she groans in frustration. “I’m happy that both Hop and Gloria have goals that they’re so passionate about. And I’m happy that they’re in love, despite being so awful at admitting it. It’s that the intersection of those two things seems so impossible. Impossible.”

She stops talking to look over the garden, getting lost in her own head. It’s just as well; the back door opens a minute later, and Gloria is there with tired eyes and a red nose. She actually startles when she sees both Legendaries out of their balls, but breaks out into a real smile.

“Well, someone made themselves comfy.”

Zacian rolls onto its back and Gloria immediately jumps onto its belly and gives it a good petting. “I came out here to collect our things, and find you cuddling with these two.”

“You may dole out proper blame on your Pokémon, not me,” Sonia defends, though she’s gentle because Gloria still looks fragile. “Are you heading back to Wyndon?”

“In a bit. I have to stop off at Mum’s house for a change of clothes, or I’m going to look a right mess on the train. Sorry for the short visit.”

Sonia smiles at her, trying to push as much positive energy and good wishing as possible into one expression though it feels a little false. “It’s always wonderful to see you. Don’t be a stranger.”

“I won’t – promise. Come on Zacian, let’s go.” She pulls it back into the pokéball before heading off. Sonia hears someone sniffle, even at this distance, and decides not to go back in the house yet. She would be chilled but for the intense body heat from Zamazenta, so she’s fine right where she is.

Not thirty seconds after she sees Gloria ride off down the road, Hop slams open the back door and immediately asks, “Sonia, what the bloody hell do I do?”

“You take the position.”

“Of course I will! I’m not that stupid! I mean… I mean, me and Gloria. I think I love her, and I think she feels the same, but these next few years are just going to be a mess and Unova is a six hour flight from here and Kanto is ten-“ and he stops and his eyes shine like bits of broken glass cutting him up. “Sonia, _what do I do_?”

Sonia doesn’t have an answer.


	2. Start a War To Start a Revolution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2: “I didn’t mean to. I really did want to tell him in person. Go get a drink together to celebrate,” and his voice softens into a whisper. “I feel like a kid again. All these years, and I still just want to hear him say he’s proud of me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is no particular song for this chapter.

What she does have, however, is empathy, and gives him a long weekend. While being more put-together than he was as a teenager, his focus goes to pot when he’s this upset. There are no active projects that he’s running right now, and he’ll soon be working on his own, so she doesn’t really need help. Instead, she gives him the order to spend the time thinking.

“Go to the Wild Area. Visit your family. Do the paperwork. I don’t care what it is, but you are banned from the lab until Monday. Put your head on straight, then come back.”

He takes it really seriously, and Sonia is almost glad to have the lab to herself. She can talk to herself, talk to the eggs, and sing along with Piers’ newest single without Hop’s teasing. She can also finish editing the outline Hop have started for his thesis; it’s the one that he can take to Unova and Kanto.

The person who comes back on Monday is Hop, but he moves like he’s got Conkeldurr rods in his spine. She has to ask. “What happened?”

“Nothing. I didn’t visit Gloria, if that’s your concern.”

“Yours and Gloria’s relationship is not my concern.” Which is a very teeny-tiny lie. “Would you like to try answering the question I actually asked?”

Appropriately chagrined, he starts again. “I visited Mum this weekend. Had a good long chat. I finished the first part of the paperwork, and I’m ready to fax it. I want this, and I’m going.”

It wasn’t real until he said so, and Sonia feels a pang of sadness go through her. She’ll miss him and his (mostly) good-natured energy. “I’m proud of you, Hop. You’re going to be a fine professor.”

“Thanks, Sonia. It… I really appreciate all that you’ve done. Just… thanks.”

“You’ve been worth the trouble. Now, are you ready to talk about your study?”

He visibly perks up. “Yeah. I wanted to go over the final draft with you before I submit.”

They sit and talk for most of the morning about his study, hammering out some of the details and re-writing a few lines in his protocol. The start of his thesis will be based around the most common illnesses that are seen in Pokémon Centers, and narrow down to check for any change due to breed, type, trainer, location, seasonality, and additional patient information. With this data, he can create a checklist of symptoms or infectious that can used in most Pokémon Centers worldwide in order to track any potential pandemics or problems occurring. The study will take him around Galar for the next six months, which is good training for his public health degree. But Sonia knows it will also give him the chance to visit Gloria more often, since he won’t be bound to Wedgehurst like he is now, though she promised to keep his room in her mansion nice and clean.

It’s a solid plan, and he is practically chomping at the bit to see it through. Hop looks more like himself as they talk, back to being enthused over his idea, and they are both surprised to see that noon has come and gone while they were working. So much to do, so little time. He starts next week, and it’s a whirlwind to try and get everything ready. Somehow they do and, with the stamp of approval from the Galar Healthcare Department, Hop now has the freedom to interview the nurses and staff at the Pokémon Centers in Galar. It’s quite a heady responsibility, but neither are worried. He’s going to be amazing.

But the one thing she doesn’t take in account is the fact that her wonderful assistant _never told his brother about any of this_.

She knows this because on Friday at high noon, while she and Hop are at the Lab, someone opens the door and yells, in that oh-so-familiar baritone, “HOP?!”

Said young man pokes out from behind the desk, while she glances down from the balcony library with her heart jumping in her chest.

“Oh hey, Lee. What brings you by?” Hop asks, completely ignoring the look on his brother’s face.

“When were you going to tell me that you got your letter?” he asks, arms crossed, teeth gritted, and voice strained. “That you’re leaving the country?”

“Ah, shit, sorry,” he said, and Sonia is glad that _he_ hasn’t noticed her yet as he strides into the main lab. “I wanted to tell you in person. I mean, something like this is pretty serious, so it didn’t really feel right to text you about it. And I really got roped into finishing all this stuff, and you know how it is, time just kinda flies away when you’re busy….”

“You had the time to tell Gloria – that’s who _I_ heard it from.”

“Well, yeah. Gloria was here when I got the letter. And I went to visit Mum last weekend. Asked you to come home, but I didn’t get a quick reply so I just kinda forgot to send a follow-up. I thought she’d tell you anyway.”

Sonia can’t see the look on his face – now his back is towards her – but the set of his shoulders has changed. It’s like he is both stiffer and more deflated. The worst part is that he’s silent. He is _never_ silent, this man who always has an opinion and something to say, especially when it comes to his brother.

Finally, he says, “So you’re leaving. When?”

“Not until August.”

“That’s five months away!”

“Honestly, I’m kinda glad I don’t have to wait too long. Not that I won’t miss everyone, because I very much will, but I’m not the patient type. No kidding, right?”

“It just seems really fast. Are you really ready for this?”

“You know,” and Hop’s voice changes to a minor key, to the start of a storm, as he stands up again. “Since you’ve walked in, I have yet to hear the words ‘congratulations!’, or ‘good job, little brother’, or whatnot. All I’ve gotten is a goddamn lecture about keeping you out of the loop, which – to be honest – seems pretty hypocritical considering where you were for fifteen years of my life.”

_Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit_

While they may have been a little distant for most of their childhoods, both have the magical sibling ability to know exactly which buttons to press to rile up the other. Thus, Sonia knows that another fight is eminent when he retorts, “Hey, _I_ came _here_ wanting to know what’s going on, which is more effort than you gave.”

“ _I_ texted first! And you couldn’t even be bothered to reply! So much for effort.”

“You still could have called! I want to know about something important like this! Excuse me for being pissed off about being excluded from your life!”

“Maybe if you actually wanted to be in it as my brother instead of my dad or my boss, then I’d try harder!”

“What the- Hop, I’ve never thought I was anything but your brother!”

“You’ve barely thought about me at all! The only time you cared about me was when me and Gloria went for the Gym Challenge, and now we all know _she’s_ your favorite sibling!”

“THAT’S ENOUGH!”

And both of them whip their heads up to look at her, fire in their eyes as she climbs down the stairs. Now that Hop’s taller than his brother, it is mildly intimidating being around both men when they’re angry. She decides she gives less than a damn. “While you both seem determined to have this argument in my lab, I am going to stop it.”

“This isn’t your problem,” Hop says, shooting in all directions.

Sonia channels her inner Gran and walks right up to her student. “You are on the track to becoming a doctor and a professor. If you do not make an effort to pull your hot-tempered head out of your arse and learn how to be a professional, then _I will do it for you_.”

He mentally steps back, realizing that he just mouthed off at his teacher, and mumbles, “Sorry, Professor Magnolia.”

_I like the sound of that._ She turns on the other Terrene. “And you! You walk in here without even a hello to myself or Hop, all up in arms about _your_ feelings rather than his, and you have the gall to be angry that he’s angry?! Get out of my lab.”

“Sonia, wait-”

“Get! Out!”

He has never heard her yell at him – never. She’s been mad and frustrated and all sorts of feelings at him, but this sort of anger is unusual for her. Maybe because she sides with Hop on this fight.

He doesn’t say anything; just turns around and leaves the lab as quickly as he came. A handful of seconds pass in dead quiet before she turns to Hop. “Let’s go get something to drink.”

A wordless nod, then fifteen minutes later they’re sitting in a pub in Wedgehurst. Both them are nursing a pint before Sonia finally says, “He was pretty hurt, you know.”

“Yeah. I fucked up.”

“A little.”

“I didn’t mean to. I really did want to tell him in person. Go get a drink together to celebrate,” and his voice softens into a whisper. “I feel like a kid again. All these years, and I still just want to hear him say he’s proud of me.”

_Oh, sweet Hopscotch,_ and she gently rubs his back. “He’s always been proud of you. Way before your acceptance to the USoPM, before the Gym Challenge. Trust me, I’d hear about it all the time.”

He groans and lays his head on the table. “It’s not like he’s never told me, either. But this is the first time I’m doing something that’s got nothing to do with being the Champion or even Galar. I’m finally doing my own thing, and it would have been nice to hear he’s supportive. I’ve looked up to my brother for everything, but now I have to look inside for this.”

“You’re worried he’s going to feel unwanted in your life?”

A shrug. “Lee likes to be needed. Likes to be in the thick of things. If he’s not, he’s not bothered with thinking about it.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Sonia mutters, then finishes her drink in a single pull. “Want some advice?”

“Can’t hurt.”

“Give him a call, and ask to meet him out for a late lunch. Or a drink, or whatever. He may have been in the wrong with how he stormed in, but you start your field work on Monday. After that is Unova. Better use the time you’ve got with the people you care about. And your brother loves you very dearly.”

Hop is quiet as he digests her advice and finishes his ale. She can almost see him bristling at the idea of offering the olive branch first, but he eventually caves in. “Maybe I’ll call after work.”

“You head home. I’m going to finish a few things and close up the lab for the weekend.”

As a thanks, and an apology for the almost-fight in her lab, Hop pays the bill. They head their separate ways, and Sonia works the rest of the afternoon in thoughtful silence.

At least, until she hears a polite knock at the front door of the lab as the sun is setting.

_Oh, you must be joking._

It takes a good thirty seconds to put down the egg she’s holding, rewrap it, adjust the temperature in the incubator after closing it, and make sure that the vitals are reading before she can answer the door. When she does open it, he’s standing there looking like a small boy who broke a window.

“Yes?”

“I wanted to say thanks.”

She blinks at him, utterly uncomprehending. “What?”

“Hop called me to visit. Talked a long time. It was good. We don’t get to do that much anymore.”

She leans against the door frame, her body language refusing him entry. “Okay.”

“He said that you were the one who suggested we make up. So… thank you for that.”

“You owe your brother better than what you did today.”

He nods silently. Doesn’t flinch from the reality, accepts his responsibility.

She looks him up and down, and it sucks _so much_ that she can feel this attracted to someone that can make her so furious. But since she can’t do what she really wants to do, which is either kiss him or shove him on his ass, she does the next best thing.

“You can come in if you are on your best behavior.”

“Promise.”

“Liar,” and he doesn’t know that she means it from the bottom of her heart. A gentle click of the lock, and they’re by themselves. She gestures to the table, and he gracefully drops down while she gets them both some water. She offers him a glass, sits down, and steels herself for this conversation. Although she doesn’t want to pick a fight, she does think there’s something that needs to be said. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“Do you think Hop was wrong or right?”

“About…?”

“Any of it. All of it.”

He let out a breath and leaned back. “Loaded question.”

“As the person who knows you better than almost anyone sans your family and maybe Raihan, assume that I’m not being malicious.”

To his credit, he sits and thinks before answering. “I’m so used to thinking of him as my little brother that it’s hard thinking of him as being an adult. It’s almost hilarious, because I was fine with him running around Galar and fighting a literal demon of a Pokémon, but five years later I’m terrified of him being in another country for education. He’s not even battling!” He lets out a half-laugh, almost in disbelief of his own irrationality. “Arceus, what’s wrong with me?”

It’s almost laughable that he can’t even recognize this feeling; Sonia has lived with it since she was ten.

“You’ll miss him,” she says with simple finality, and his whole body goes still. The truth hangs in the air, a Gastly laughing at the poison it spreads. “It’s the first time you’ve ever been left behind while someone goes up and on their way.”

Finally he nods.

“Hurts, doesn’t it?” she muses aloud, and suddenly she wants to be vindictive. It’s a poor idea but her mouth moves before her brain can stop it. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it. Like the rest of us did.”

He turns his head to her, all steel and sharp edges now. “Rest of you?”

“When you became Champion. Everything you had in Postwick and Wedgehurst stayed there while you flourished in Wyndon. I’m not blaming you for finding your dream,” she clarifies quickly, “but you were particularly awful at remembering the rest of us.”

“I did the best I could! I was the one who was gone, not you!”

It was a mistake, tearing at these old scars to make him feel guilty. She doesn’t need to bleed just to prove a point, so she pulls back. “I know. But now you can’t blame Hop if he doesn’t give you the time you want him to, especially with your track record.” The defensiveness turns a little inward, turns him quiet again. Thankfully, his temper is easily cooled. She finishes up by saying, “Sad to say you’re not the person he wants to see the most, anyway.”

The barest hint of a smile on his lips, and Sonia knows he knows. “For what it’s worth, a certain Champion has been rather distracted this past week. Almost missed a meeting with the Galar Tourism Board yesterday. Perhaps it’s connected?”

“Perhaps,” and she can’t help but smile back because this feeling, right here right now, is something that has been missing for so long that she can’t help but enjoy it. It feels like they’re best friends again. Not rivals, not coworkers, not partners in a race against the ending of the world, not even two adults who respect another’s abilities. She has always liked him before she loved him, and this moment of softness makes her wonder if he likes her too.

But… she’s not ready to open the door, undo the chains, reveal her vulnerability to him. Even with five years of change, it’s too intimidating an idea. Rather, she leans back in her chair and asks, “So did you really come to Wedgehurst just to yell at your brother?”

He groans and hangs his head in his hands, propped up on his knees. “I didn’t mean for everything to happen like it did. I really wanted to bum around with him, especially after hearing that he’s going so soon.”

“So why are you here and not with him?”

“Thought I’d make it up to him by telling him about the dinner that Gloria has to attend tomorrow with Wyndon’s mayor and a few other political folks. I originally said I’d go with as her date and emotional support, but after the fight with Hop I’m trading places. We packed him a bag, and he should be in Wyndon within the hour.”

Sonia smiles. Gloria is going to flip her lid when she sees him. “That was nice.”

“I owed him.”

“So does that mean your weekend is free?”

“Mostly. I’m heading back on Sunday, but I’ve got no plans tonight or tomorrow.”

Her heart starts to pick up again at this knowledge, and she’s nervous like it’s their first time battling. She decides to throw caution to the wind. “Want to go out for dinner tonight?” and she’s very pleased that she sounds so casual.

“Sounds great; I’m starving. How about hitting up Motostoke – if you don’t mind the ride.”

“Let me close up the lab for the weekend, and I’ll be ready.” It only takes another ten minutes to shut everything down and lock the door, then both of them are heading towards her house as she buttons up her coat. “I’ve got to change and fix my makeup, then we can go.”

“Don’t bother. You look great. Let’s go now.”

It’s like a dozen Litwik start to warm up her chest, but she only sighs in exasperation. He doesn’t have much patience (it must run in the family, Arceus bless their mother) and she leads them towards the train station. Cheaper than a taxi and, to be honest, she’s willing to spend time on a train just to spend time with him. He makes a call someplace for reservations, then they’re on their merry way.

They arrive in Motostoke without any Wooloo on the tracks. He doesn’t tell her where they’re going, so she’s reasonably certain they won’t make it in time for _breakfast_ , but he surprises her. He makes a lot of stops, and actually asks for directions from one or two of the stores, but they never backtrack.

Finally, they arrive. Sonia’s eyes go wide with appreciation as she stands outside the new building. “Are you serious? You got reservations to Sabre?!”

“I’ve been coming here for a few months now. They generally keep an opening for any admins associated with the Tower. It’s good for when I’m not in the mood for fast food.”

“I can’t afford this!”

“Of course you can, when it’s my treat,” and he casually walks past all the people waiting to speak with the maître-d’. She breaks out into a smile upon seeing him.

“Ah, Mr. Terrene. A pleasure to see you again. Your table is ready.”

“Wonderful,” and he turns to offer Sonia his arm. “It’s often quite crowded here.”

If she touches him she’s not going to want to stop, but it would be rude to refuse under the glare of so many people (mostly women, of course), so she steels herself and lays her hand at the crook of his elbow. He’s warm despite the late winter chill, and his jacket is the softest fabric she’s ever felt in her life and is so fitted she can practically find his pulse. It’s been literally years since she’s even shaken his hand, and this little bit of contact is going to drive her mad. Then they’re walking, and she just has to put one foot in front of the other and look around. Many of the other patrons are well dressed, and Sonia wants to give him a good swift kick in the breeches for not letting her at least fix her hair and makeup.

They sit down – the woman pulled out her chair and genteelly pushed her in – and Sonia feels like she’s in another timeline where the two of them have actually been together for years and this is something they do all the time. She immediately shakes her head and grabs the menu. While it’s not all in Kalosian, there is enough to make her think that he’s specifically chosen this place as payback for calling out his faults this afternoon. The waiter comes by and he orders a pot of tea that she asks to share.

“Well, I can’t make heads or tails of most of this,” she admits, closing the menu. “Do you have a suggestion?”

“Do you have some time?”

She holds her hands apart, a little self-sardonic. “If you’ll have it.”

He smiles and it’s radiant and she might as well have told him that he’s won the Championship again with how big that smile is. “Then, may I do the honors?”

“Please,” and she’s grateful that he doesn’t notice the tremor in her voice.

He orders them a five-course tasting menu, complete with wine pairings. Sonia almost hopes she’s going to be drunk after all this because it’s like a dream, sitting here with him as they talk and eat and laugh and look out the window over Motostoke and into the Wild Area. They’ve never done this before, never been adults enjoying each other’s time, and it’s going to her head and to her heart. He’s going to ruin her.

They eat a delicious salad decorated beautifully with rare fruits and flowers, braised Tauros tail with zucchini and eggplant, bay clams on a bed of mushrooms, squash, and lentils, aged Swanna breast with huckleberries and roasted carrots, and dessert is a pear tart with vanilla-lemon ice cream and a cookie. Everything is amazing and she can’t stop eating. It takes them nearly three hours to go through all courses, and he has no trouble finishing what she can’t, and all she wants is for this night to go on forever because he’s made it so easy to be with. He’s kind and warm, passionate and compassionate, more clever than people give him credit for, and so generous with himself that he allows more than one person to come by and take a picture with him. He might not be the Champion anymore, but he still holds a powerful place in everyone’s hearts.

Somewhere deep inside, Sonia knows that he belongs to everyone, and it burns her, breaks her into shards silently begging him to help put her back together even though it won’t ever be him, he who carries the ideals of so many in Galar. All she can do is revel in what she’s got right at this minute, the person in front of her. She lives this time, burning it into her brain like a Rotom working overtime, mentally recording each dish and drink name like she’s tracking activity on a new Dynamax spot.

When they leave, she is definitely tipsy; she’s a good ole Galarian girl and can drink a lot of men under the table, but wine has a way of making her light and free. He notices but is enough of a gentleman to say nothing. He is also gracious enough to offer his arm again as they walk back to the train station; it takes longer than usual, but Sonia doesn’t have enough presence of mind to help him. They sit down, and the next thing she knows he is tapping her shoulder.

“Hey, Sonia, we’re almost at Wedgehurst.”

She fell asleep. Not just that, she fell asleep _against his shoulder_. “Sorry!” she says, sitting up fast and nearly making the train spin in a circle.

He gives a slightly amused chuckle. “Come on, let’s get you home.” Sonia’s not that wasted, and ends up leading them to the mansion. Cotton-soft silence hangs between them, as if they’ve used up all their words and can only share a touch or a look. Finally, he leads her to the front door, and Sonia doesn’t ever want him to leave. She isn’t drunk enough to make a really poor choice, but she is willing to blame the alcohol when she says, “Thanks for tonight. I had a great night – best in a long time, I admit.”

“Me too. It feels like forever since we’ve talked like that.”

“It has been. I’d love to do it again.”

He nods, almost to himself. “Then, tomorrow night? Six o’clock sound good?”

_What?_ “What?”

“Are you free? Sorry, I didn’t even ask.”

“No, I’m free! I just… it’s…,” and the words get all jumbled in her mouth until she says, “I want to. Spend time with you, that is. A lot of time. Oh good Dialgia, I should stop before I say something stupid. Good night!”

And then her body moves before her brain can catch up, and she thinks she gives him a hug _and_ a kiss on the cheek before unlocking the front door and swinging herself inside and shutting the door in one single move.

Now he’s laughing for real, echoing from his chest. “Good night, Sonia. I’ll text you with details.”

She drops her purse, jacket, and shoes on the floor before running upstairs and screaming into the biggest pillow she has in her room.


	3. Two Points of Separation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3: They keep dancing and their faces are so close and it’s really distracting because it’s one thing to know that someone is attracted to you and it’s quite another to find out that it’s the second-strongest Trainer in Galar and one of your lifelong friends. Part of her wants to ask if he’s just doing this to make her feel better, but immediately discards that thought. He’s easygoing when it comes to relationships, and may have wildly exaggerated bedroom talents, but he wouldn’t do that – to her, or anyone else. Wouldn’t pretend to be something or feel something he doesn’t; it would be worse than being constantly thrown aside for other pursuits.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song for this chapter is "The River and the Highway" by Pam Tillis. It's a bit of an oldie, but the mood really swells with this song after Nessa and Sonia leave the beauty parlor until she gets the wake-up call.

The morning comes by almost too fast; she managed to sleep pretty well last night, in no small part to the wine, but also because the whole day left her so wrung out her body decided to give up and collapse. She sleeps until well past 8, which almost never happens, and wakes up so refreshed that she lets herself lounge in bed.

Then she remembers that _I have a date tonight!_ And sits up so fast that Yamper startles awake. Her brain cycles through a hundred different ideas in the span of thirty seconds before she decides on two plans of action.

1 – Take a shower

2 – Call Nessa

The shower part is easy. She has a moment of weakness where she wonders if she should shave, but it’s still chilly outside and she doesn’t think she’ll be wearing a dress and if she must then that’s what 2-hour pre-event alarms are for.

The decision to call Nessa is a little harder. She knows she needs to talk to someone about this, given how flustered she’s feeling. It doesn’t seem right talking to her parents about her love life right now. Calling Hop is out of the question. Gloria herself would be an option, but it wouldn’t be fair to take her away from Hop. Raihan is no help – he usually suggests sex as the way to release her unresolved tension but is not terribly specific on who should join her. None of her newer friends know that she’s still pining over the ex-Champion of Galar, and rehashing old history is not going to help.

So, Nessa it is. She picks up on the third ring, looking fresh and beautiful. “Hey girl! What’s going on?”

“Hello, I have an emergency!”

“Uh huh. Like, you-got-a-horrible-haircut emergency, or unholy-spirit-of-evil-is-about-to-destroy-Galar-again emergency?”

“I have a date tonight.”

“Oh, thank Arceus! It took you bloody forever to get over Leon!”

“…He’s my date.”

Her mouth drops open. “You’re serious?”

“Yes!”

“Can you be in Hulbury in 30 minutes?”

“Sure. I’ll hail a taxi now.”

“Good. I’m setting up two spa dates so we can talk _and_ help you look good.”

“I love you.”

“Of course you do. See you soon.”

The taxi only takes 20 minutes at this time of day, so she stands outside the Hulbury Pokémon Center and waits for Nessa. When the latter shows up, she gives Sonia a big hug, then holds her at arms’ length to look her up and down.

“I swear, if you leave out a single detail about what’s gone down between you two, I am going to hang you from a mast.”

Sonia laughs, and then they’re on the move. They hit up Nessa’s favorite spa, located right on the edge of the sea, and are immediately whisked away for a “couples” massage. Sonia bites the Bullet Seed and tells her nearly everything that happened yesterday, leaving out details of the brothers’ fight and her talk with Hop. Nessa, for her part, doesn’t comment beyond a few noncommittal sounds – either from Sonia’s words or the massage, no one knows. But once she finishes the story, Nessa finally says, “You want to know what I think?”

“Enlighten me.”

“He’s finally realized that he’s attracted to you too. Gods of sea and storm be praised.”

It’s very satisfying to hear her say that; Sonia really hopes it’s true.

“But! There are two problems. One is that you guys have a lot of history – and it’s not all good. Leon doesn’t know that, though; he thinks you two have always been friends, and now you’re on the way to being closer “friends”. He doesn’t have negative memories of you, not the way you do.”

“You mean, he’s not carrying the baggage around that I’m carrying.”

“Exactly. He doesn’t know that you’ve got all these hard feelings about being left behind or ignored, which are still valid concerns. And it’s not like he’s got a lot more time on his hands than he did five years ago. Owning the Tower keeps him pretty busy, too. So if you guys were to get into a long-term relationship, you’d have to think about moving your lab to Wyndon since he certainly can’t move the Tower to Wedgehurst.”

Ah yes, reality. How unpleasant. “And the second thing?”

“You need to decide if you’re ready to toss out some of that baggage in order to have a functioning relationship. Letting some of it go means both talking to Leon about your concerns so that he knows where you’re coming from, and then mentally letting them go to give him a so-called chance.” She closes her eyes as she is turned on her back. “And you and I both know that you are absolute shite at letting go.”

A very deep, heavy sigh. The massage therapist gets to work on Sonia’s lower back. It feels really good, getting the tightness pounded and kneaded away, and she’s willing to let go of almost anything at this point. They are both silent until they move into the nail salon where the pedicure chairs await. Sonia enjoys the scent of lavender and vanilla in her skin as she leans back into the chair.

“You’re right, of course.”

“I know.”

“But I don’t know that I’m ready to do that. To literally forgive him for fifteen years of making the rest of the world first and me second.”

“It’s not just you that was second.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m just being selfish.”

Nessa snorts indelicately. “You’re also asking him to change nearly twenty years of habits. Good luck getting through that head of a Rhydon.” She notices the color that the pedicurist is painting. “That’s not your usual green.”

“I decided to go with something a little… different.” It’s a deep violet, with hints of red glittering through. The contrast on her toes is very distinct, but Sonia likes it.

“Nice choice. Very sexy. If he gets to see you without shoes on, that is.”

Sonia laughs weakly. “We’ll see.”

“Did you give any thought to the Vazavi wax I told you about?”

Now she turns red. “I think I’ll pass.”

“Too bad. It takes some getting used to, but it’s better at keeping your bikini lines clean. Or thong lines, depending on what you like.”

“I will take your word on it.”

The conversation makes a turn into a discussion of clothes and Nessa’s modeling career. Sonia paints her fingernails the same color and likes the way the color draws attention to her hands. For all the work in the lab and at historical sites, she tries to take good care of her skin. Nessa goes for a navy blue, which makes her look even more fey than usual. When they finish, both are relaxed and ready for more.

But after leaving the spa and they’re heading to a shopping center for an outfit, she gets a text.

Leon: **Hey im sorry but ive got to go back to wyndon today something came up and they need my help rain check later**

Just like that, everything that feels right is wrong again. The knots undone by the massage suddenly return to strangle her, the inner glow she has fades to darkness. All she can feel is how her body doesn’t want to move, and she doesn’t think she can process how horrible this feels _how horrible this always feels when he makes and breaks his word_ because there’s nothing inside of her to feel. She may as well have a Gigalith in her stomach.

She barely realizes that the phone slips through her fingers until Nessa catches it. Her friend reads the text, and her eyes turn sorrowful. “Oh, Sonia, I’m so sorry.”

And then she’s sitting on one of the benches facing the sea, crying on Nessa’s shoulder as her friend strokes her hair and brushes away the tears that could be mist from the rolling sea. She can’t even say why she’s crying because it all hurts so much when it shouldn’t, and how could she be so _stupid_ to get happy when this was obviously the only result and how could she waste all that time and money trying to feel pretty when it’s stupid and doesn’t matter because he’ll never see her except when it’s convenient, because she’s a Professor and not a potential lover. She runs these thoughts through her head like Yamper after a Diglett and keeps going nowhere fast.

“Think you’ll be all right for a moment or two?” Nessa whispers. She nods and takes the handkerchief to wipe her face. Nessa heads off and returns a handful of minutes later with a cup of lemonade and a cookie. Sonia takes the lemonade first, and the mix of sweet and tart actually jolt her back into her body.

“Sword and shield, this is strong!”

“Good. I had a Galvantula zap it before I brought it over.”

Sonia smiles at the ridiculousness. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mind it.”

They are quiet for a little while longer while she eats and drinks, with Nessa’s shoulder offering her warmth.

Finally, she has enough of herself back to say, “I think I should get home now.”

“Mind if I make a suggestion?”

“Murdering him won’t really fix the problem.”

Nessa lets out a bark of a laugh. “Girl, you can hardly stop me now. But really, why don’t you finish shopping with me before you go?”

“Looking at new bras isn’t going to matter.”

“Just because Leon won’t see them doesn’t mean someone else can’t.”

“I don’t really want anyone else to see them.”

“Then how about being beautiful for yourself?”

Sonia feels a little teary-eyed again; not only is Nessa trying so damn hard to perk her up, but the words start to ring in her head like arpeggio bells. She never feels beautiful anymore. “Okay. Just for a few minutes.”

Her friend takes full advantage of the permission and drags Sonia to a rather upscale lingerie shop. She is popped into a changing room, divested of her tops, and measured by a girl with a dozen-plus piercings who looks like she’d fit more with Spikemuth than here. She runs off while Sonia puts on a thin robe and waits. When the girl returns with a literal armful of styles, she actually helps Sonia put them on (which is a new experience) then runs her fingers over the shoulder and back straps for fit. Some of them look so damn good on her that it’s astounding.

“Can I see?” Nessa asks from outside.

Sonia’s got nothing to hide – both of them change into swimsuits around each other not infrequently – and Nessa lets out a low whistle. “Damn, you look like you got a breast job in that. Wow.”

She playfully kicks her friend out, then tries on a few more before deciding that yeah, it’s a confidence boost to have bras that make her look like she’s gained a cup size. She buys two bras and some new bottoms, bemoaning the cost but happy to have a treat like this that she’d never otherwise get.

They share a hug and a promise to visit more often – she trusts Nessa’s word – before she hails a taxi and heads home. But landing in Wedgehurst suddenly makes her feel claustrophobic, and she practically runs home because even though no one knows about her lost date tonight, she still feels like her neighbors are staring at her.

Once inside, she is greeted by Yamper dancing at her feet. They sit on the couch together and, in the safety of her grandmother’s home holding her beloved Pokémon, Sonia curls into herself and falls asleep.

She dreams of nothing and it’s a blessing.

* * *

When she wakes up, it’s because her Rotom phone is ringing. She answers it on speakerphone rather than video, and then thanks all her lucky stars because she doesn’t need him to see her like this.

“Hey, Sonia! Heard that Leon’s being an arse again!”

“Raihan,” she smiles, then blows her nose. Yuck. “Lovely to hear your voice.”

“Well you sound awful, mate.”

“A real charmer, aren’t you? It’s always a shock to hear that more ladies aren’t breaking down your bedroom door.”

“They are, but a real gentleman never kisses and tells.”

The banter helps wake her up, and she wanders into the kitchen for an ice bag for her eyes. They feel super puffy and gross. “What’s going on? You never call just for no reason.”

“Nessa told me what happened.” For a split second, Sonia feels a little annoyed that her friend is spilling her secrets, but Raihan’s almost as close a friend so she calms down. “I thought you’d like to spend time with a friend.”

“You? Talk?”

“I can word just fine, thanks. My plan is, though, that we don’t do much talking.”

“Oh?” Raihan’s a great friend, and sharply attractive, but she’s never given that option much consideration.

“I’m taking you out tonight. Hammerlocke has a brilliant club, and it’s probably been years since you’ve gone dancing.”

More like a decade, but who’s counting? “That’s sweet, Rai, but I’m not sure I’m in the mood.”

“Too bad. I’m sending a taxi over at 6PM sharp. If you’re not on it, I’m jumping on Flygon and picking you up by the jacket.”

He’d do it too. “This is extortion.”

“Nah, just good ole fashioned kidnapping. You got something to wear?”

“Do they have a dress code?”

“Got a short skirt or dress?”

“Not really.”

“Tight pants? Tight shirt?”

“Really?!”

“Hmm… go for racy-but-expensive and you’ll be fine.”

“I can’t do either.”

“Fake it. And wear a sexy bra for the confidence boost.”

She feels herself go red from head to toe. “Did Nessa tell you about our shopping trip, too?!”

“What trip? She just mentioned the spa, then the cancelled date.”

_Oh fuck-a-Ducklett._ “Nothing. Nevermind.”

“Oh, see now, that right there – that’s not fair to do a guy. You can’t leave me hanging wondering what sort of new panties you’ve got.”

“Not a chance in the world.”

She can literally hear his smirk from so many kilometers away. “I’ll wring the story out of you someday. Better yet, tonight. I’ll see you when you get here.”

“Bye, Raihan. See you tonight.”

It’s not the same as a date, but both Nessa and Raihan are trying their hardest to lift her up and push back the loneliness that it works. Wedgehurst has a little mall that she quickly visits, buying a dark purple shirt that covers her arms but dips a V into her chest. She also buys a silver skirt that’s got a slit up one side and hugs her curves so well that she is resigned to wearing a thong lest someone see her pantylines (and wouldn’t that make Raihan crow with amusement). Overall, she looks fashionable but not overdone. She heads back home, spends too much time shaving before getting dressed, fixing her hair into a looser ponytail against her shoulder and neck without the usual heart decorations, and throwing on some basic makeup. She doesn’t try too hard, but her lips are now deep red and her eyes are smoky and that’s bloody good enough.

She’s already fed and walked Yamper, who looks hopeful that she can go too. “Not today, pup, but maybe another time.” She hears the taxi land outside, and goes to get her coat, high heels, and purse. Before the doorbell can ring, she flings it open to head out.

And standing there, wearing a deep orange button-down shirt (with the top two buttons undone) with black slacks, is Raihan. His hair has been freed from the usual bandana but still pulled back show off his spikes. He’s got a gold necklace with a little Dreepy pendant that shines against him, and honestly he looks he just walked right off a photoshoot. If Sonia wasn’t so hard for someone else, she’d have felt pretty comfortable wanting to tell him exactly what underwear she’s wearing.

He smiles appreciatively. “Looking gorgeous.”

“Flatterer. Though you look pretty good yourself.”

“Thanks. Now smile.” And he pulls her into him, hand on her waist, and his Rotom takes a quick picture of them. “Yeah, that’s a good one. Let’s go.”

They continue talking all the way to Hammerlocke, his arm thrown over the back of their shared seat, and Sonia takes advantage of his body heat; being a Dragon trainer must come with a few perks. He tosses his suitcoat (waiting in the taxi) over her legs, too, which helps cut the wind down. He snaps a few more selfies as they look down at the nightlights of the passing cities until they finally land right outside an old castle that is making way too much noise to be deserted. He helps her out, and they waltz right past the bouncer who fist-bumps Raihan.

It’s big; bigger than she expected. There are four rooms, each with different music, but Raihan leads her into the biggest room. There’s a huge bar lining one wall, and a DJ outfitted with an obnoxious number of bass speakers, and people who look far closer to Hop and Gloria’s age than hers. They pass by one row of couches to reach a spiral iron staircase that’s being watched by a second bouncer. Turns out, that’s where a lot of the VIPs sit, and there’s a second, slightly more sophisticated bar upstairs.

“Looks like she beat us here,” Raihan says, and her eyes dart from couch to couch until she sees Nessa waving frantically at them. She’s wearing a new crop top and belly chain with a matching skirt and open-toed wedges. Faster than one would expect for someone wearing heels that high, she darts up and hugs Sonia.

“I’m so glad Raihan convinced you to come with us. Come on, drop your stuff and we’ll go dance.”

“Won’t someone try to steal my purse?”

“Of course not. That’s why they’re here,” and she points at the Pawniard sitting on the table, glaring at everyone passing by. “They’re trained to watch whatever is put on the table or couches.”

That’s a clever idea; expensive one, considering the amount of training that Pawniard require, but Sonia assumes that anyone who can afford to be up in the VIP section can afford the personal guard. She drops both purse and jacket, and the three of them head back downstairs to dance.

She thought she’d feel more self-conscious, considering she’s probably ten years older than most of the other patrons and she’s about to dance right next to two of the most attractive people in the world. But Raihan moves right in front of her, his steps light and easy and help her fall into a matching rhythm, and Nessa stays at her side. Soon enough she lets the music take over her concerns, and she grabs Nessa’s hand to dance with her. The three of them move together, smiling and enjoying themselves; Sonia laughs when a stray beach ball bounces against Nessa’s head and Raihan lazily bats it back into the crowd.

It’s so funny how her friends can make her feel this much better, more put-together. Like they’re giving her glue to rebuild the cracks in her spirit. She owes them big; maybe she can get a rare Pokémon for each.

“Hey,” Raihan yells over the music. “I’ve got to get a drink. You two want anything?”

“No, I’m good.”

“Me too.”

“I’ll hook you up.”

And the two women go back to enjoying themselves and the music. Though Sonia is hardly surprised when Nessa comments, “That’s a new outfit.”

“Bought it for tonight.”

“Are you wearing them?”

“Yeah. Didn’t have much choice, considering this,” and she gestures at the tightness and plunging neckline.

Nessa only smirks, then the two of them are back to dancing without words. Only a few minutes pass before two men – possibly contemporary in age to them – step right up and ask, “Wanna dance?”

Of course, Nessa makes it a game. “Only if you know how.”

“Try me,” and one of them takes her hand and shows that he definitely knows what he’s doing.

Sonia looks at the other man; tall and fair, built well, doesn’t obviously look like a serial killer. Sure, why not? “Okay.”

He comes up behind her, hands on her hips, and then they’re rocking together. It’s been a long time since she’s done this, but it’s nice and not too hard on her knees or hips (the heels are going to make her pay later, she can tell, but for now it’s fine). He doesn’t let his hands drift too far up or down, and some amount of time passes before she realizes that Raihan didn’t make it back and Nessa’s now gone.

A moment of panic, because of course she panics and worries for her friends, but he’s sitting up at their VIP area, drinking a beer and talking up a few very attractive (and minimally dressed) women, while Nessa is by the bar, flirting with her new dance partner. Sonia grits her teeth; it would have been nice if they warned her.

But she decides to stop caring and just go for it. She doesn’t know how long she dances with this guy before breaking off and heading upstairs for a break. Raihan got her a stout, as he promised, and she drinks it to get some energy back. Then Nessa comes up and suggests shots, and Sonia drinks something that tastes like an Alcremie dipped in a Carkol and burns through her like restrained tears and swallowed curses. She decides that was _way_ more boosting than she needed and gets up to go back downstairs.

Except that Raihan gets up with her, leaving his jacket behind and the other women looking pouty, so she raises an eyebrow at him. He shrugs, which is a bit of surprise considering how much he enjoys being around lovely ladies, but Sonia lets it go as she reaches the floor with him. She doesn’t know how they go from dancing next to each other to with each other but it was smooth as silk because suddenly she’s got her back against his chest and he’s pretty good at keeping the rhythm and holding her like she could melt out of his arms if he’s not careful, but she honestly likes it because even if she’s not sure she wants something deeper, she has cared about him almost as long as

_someone else_

Her mood is this close to turning black, but Raihan spins her around in his arms, and she’s straddling his leg and her arms are around his neck ( _good Giratina he’s really tall_!) and his hands have her waist and when she looks up at his eyes she sees neon turquoise embedded in dark walnut and it catches her, captivates her in him, and that moment is all it takes and he bends down and kisses her and _wow_ she didn’t think this was going to happen tonight but hey, may as well just roll with it because when the morning comes she’ll be alone again and she doesn’t actually have a boyfriend or someone else who has claim to this part of her so this is just for fun and he probably knows it too.

When he finally breaks the kiss, he brings his lips to her ear and says in a very non-joking tone, “I still want to know what you’re wearing under this. It’s been driving me mad.” His hand grabs her ass, which pushes her a little further up his thigh _and_ has the added benefit of making her gasp.

Him saying and doing stuff like that has tossed her for a loop. She can’t even banter properly. “Still not telling.”

They keep dancing and their faces are so close and it’s really distracting because it’s one thing to know that someone is attracted to you and it’s quite another to find out that it’s the second-strongest Trainer in Galar _and_ one of your lifelong friends. Part of her wants to ask if he’s just doing this to make her feel better, but immediately discards that thought. He’s easygoing when it comes to relationships, and may have wildly exaggerated bedroom talents, but he wouldn’t do that – to her, or anyone else. Wouldn’t pretend to be something or feel something he doesn’t; it would be worse than being constantly thrown aside for other pursuits.

He bends down and gently nips her neck. It’s not enough to leave a mark, but certainly enough to knock her out of her thoughts given those impressive canines. “What was that for?”

“You’re thinking of Leon, and it’s pissing me off.”

“It’s that obvious?”

He meets her eyes. “Yeah, it is. Do you want to sit down and talk?”

Her gaze darts away, and he has a hand on her back as they head back upstairs. This time, Nessa is dancing away with a few other women that Sonia doesn’t recognize. They have the table to themselves. When she sits down on the couch he’s right next to her, leaning on his forearms as he watches her. Two brand new beer bottles have appeared, but Sonia refrains while he grabs one. Something has occurred to her that she’s almost afraid of knowing, but since no one else is around….

She steels herself, dives in. “Do you like me?”

“I’ve always liked you, Sonia. You and me are the only two people in the world who know that Leon doesn’t shit gold bricks, and there’s something about being friends for this long that makes it easy to like you. We get each other.”

It’s not quite the answer she was hoping for, but it’s a nice one.

Then he sips his beer, puts it down, and follows up with, “But if you’re asking if I’d like to try a relationship with you, then yeah, I would.” He gently takes her chin and forces her to look at him. Her stomach flutters with nervousness. “I never asked before because of your feelings for Leon, but if he’s going to break a date with you that _he himself made_ then it’s clear he’s not invested in you as a romantic partner. I would be.”

Sonia hates that he might be right, and his hand moves to stroke a lock of hair from her forehead. “Can _I_ be honest now?” He nods; she continues. “I’ve never considered this before. I’ve never thought of you like… this before,” and she gestures at everything around them. “Did you plan this to try and get me to fall for you?”

He takes the beer again. “Sweetheart, I couldn’t plan this if you gave me an itinerary. I may be a genius at Pokémon battling, city-level politics, and meteorology, but asking me to predict if my good friend – who is stupidly in love with my other good friend – would want to start dating me is a little out of my comfort zone.”

She lets out something between a giggle and a snort, but then calms down. “I might just say yes because it’s flattering and part of me wants to be validated. Getting dropped like a hot Torkoal hasn’t been good for my self-esteem.”

“I promise – and I know you don’t like them – that I’m not doing this just to make you feel better. I want you to not be upset, yeah, but I’m not interested being one of Leon’s rebounds. I’m asking because I finally have a chance to try this with you, Sonia, and I want you to say yes.”

And he leans forward, gently cups her face in one hand, and brings his mouth to hers. This kiss is a little slower but still steamy and plenty good enough to make her blood feel twice as hot. He doesn’t break it very quickly either, and the moment she opens her mouth for a breath he moves. His tongue is quick, sliding in to swipe against hers before sliding back out again. But her surprise doesn’t last very long. She leans into him now, very purposefully pressing against him and shoving her tongue into him to tease the roof of his mouth.

That sends a shudder through him, and Sonia thinks she’s just caught the Dragonmaster off-guard for once.

“Damn, you are a bag of tricks!” and his smile is a mix of amused and amazed as they come apart.

“I’ve learned a few things.” Beyond her time in college she’s scratched the itch here and there, but most of this is knowledge that she’s read in magazines or online. Seems to be working.

He starts running his fingers through the curls of her ponytail. “Come back home with me.”

“I can’t,” she automatically says.

“Why not?”

“Yamper’s at home. I don’t think I should leave her alone all night, or into the morning. Hop’s out of town and no one else has the key.”

He lets out a sigh. “Yeah, that’s a problem.” Then he looks thoughtful and says, “What if I send someone to pick her up and bring her back? Would you stay the night, then?”

This is moving really fast now. Raihan has been propositioning her all night, even if it started out in jest, but now he’s being so direct she can’t pretend to not understand that he’s dead serious.

If she does this, there’s no going back. If she does this, she can’t pretend she won’t try to make a relationship with him, and she can’t let him play second fiddle to an ideal that is becoming less of an ideal and more of a lost dream. She can’t treat him like a temporary trial, like a random hookup, like they’re just fuck-buddies with no emotional strings attached because, if nothing else, he deserves better than that. She must commit to the role, and maybe finally let go of the baggage holding her back from finding someone who loves her.

At the same time… he’s going to find out and she’s not sure how she feels about that. What she does know is that if she and Raihan are together, the possibility of ever trying a relationship with him is gone because you can’t have cake and eat it too. Accepting that fact – that being with Raihan means never being with _him_ – is a sobering one, and nearly smacks her in the face with the realization that she’s wasted almost twenty years of her life waiting for someone who never waited for her. Twenty years of unrequited love… gone.

_What do I want?_

That’s the ten million pokédollar question, and she doesn’t know. But she looks at Raihan, patiently waiting for her like he’d wait as long as she’s waited for someone else.

_Do or die, Sonia Magnolia. Do or die._

She takes a breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I put the original Chapters 3 and 4 together because that was my initial intention when I wrote the story. The reason I separated them in 'Your World Was Not Mine' was to make the punch from Leon's cancellation that much more painful on the readers, but that's not necessary now.
> 
> Brace yourself for the next chapter.


	4. Strokes of Midnight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Leon is no longer the Champion and things are changing for the younger generation, perhaps the future will shift in a direction that Sonia has never expected. When she decides to accept an invitation to go out dancing with Nessa and Raihan, she finds out that there may be more than one dream and more than one kind of happiness.
> 
> Chapter 4 (EXPLICIT): He holds his hand out to her; in it is Yamper’s pokéball and her keys. He doesn’t even look at her, keeping his gaze trained on Nessa, but the next words are for Sonia. “If you want to leave by yourself, you can. No hard feelings. I want you to come with me, but it’s always been your choice.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song that I like during this chapter is a cover of 'Closer' by Boyce Avenue ft. Sara Hyland. It really works once the two of them have reached his apartment and are sitting together, and runs right to the end of the chapter.
> 
> I will repeat myself for the children under 17 in the room - this is an EXPLICIT chapter. I don't write "Ikea sex" (insert Tab A into Slot B while touching Body Parts F and F to produce Liquids X and Y...), but I am very clear about what is happening between these two. No 'fade to black', no subtleties; as an adult, I write for adults.

She looks directly into his eyes, and it’s what she sees that makes up her mind.

“Yes. I would.”

He stops moving, almost stops breathing; he looks like he’s caught between awake and dreaming, and not sure which is which. “Okay then,” he whispers back. “Give me your keys. Where’s Yamper’s pokéball?”

“I keep it in her crate, in the sitting room. Sometimes she likes to go into it after we’ve been out for a while,” she explains as she fishes them out of her purse. It’s almost like watching herself through a Rotom, barely believing that she’s going through with it but unable to stop herself. She’s not sure she wants to be stopped.

“Go dance with Nessa. I’ll be back as soon as possible.”

“Wait, I thought you said-”

“You think Yamper’s going to let anyone but you or me into the house? Into her pokéball? Just because you don’t battle anymore doesn’t mean she’s not a high enough level to kick some serious tail.”

Fair enough, but she suddenly feels anxious by his choice to leave. “Text or call me if you need anything.” She’ll keep her purse on hand.

“Of course.” And he kisses her one last time, and she kisses back, and it’s an uncomfortable amount of time for anyone watching before the two pull apart. “When I get back, we’re leaving.”

Her stomach is full of nerves and heat. “I’ll tell Nessa.”

Without a second glance, he grabs his jacket and heads out the door. Sonia goes to meet Nessa, who’s still dancing and barely breaking a sweat. It’s enviable.

Her blue-haired friend smiles slyly. “Saw you two having some fun upstairs. Where’d he go?”

“To get Yamper.” At Nessa’s puzzled glance, she braces herself before saying, “I’m going back to his flat after he comes back.”

“What?!” and Nessa quickly drags her off the floor so they’re hovering near the bar. “Sonia, are you sure about this? Not that there’s anything wrong with you two getting together, but you’re not just doing this to spite Leon, are you? Because I’m going to have to stop you if that’s the case.”

She hadn’t considered how this choice looked from that angle, but she gets Nessa’s point. “No, I’m not doing this out of spite. Pleasant thought, though. In all seriousness, Raihan made an offer and I said yes because… I want to.”

“Not just because he’s a warm body right here?”

“Lots of guys here. Not them.”

“So _he’s_ not taking advantage of you either, is he?” and now she’s defensive from the other side. “Even if you don’t admit it, you’re still hurt from Leon’s cancellation. If he’s trying to play a Corviknight swooping down to save you, then I will kick his arse from here to Hulbury.”

“I don’t think that’s it either. If I turned him down, I think he’d have let it go.”

“Are you drunk?”

Sonia wrinkles her nose. “A little tipsy, but if I stop now it’ll clear.”

“Hmph. Before you two leave, I’m going to talk with him.”

Sonia can’t really give her a reason why to not do that but appreciates that Nessa is looking out for her. “Okay. Can we go back to dancing? I’m feeling kind of… restless.”

Nessa mutters something under her breath about Raihan and getting no rest tonight, but Sonia pointedly ignores it. When they get back on the floor, it feels nice to be moving again and surrounded by music and the beating bass and other bodies. She wants time to speed up because now that she’s committed to tonight, she wants to get away from here. This delay is giving her time to wonder if she really is making a bad decision for a hundred-plus reasons, and now there’s doubt starting to creep in and great, just great should she rescind but she doesn’t really want to but what if-

“Hey, ready to go?” and a cold hand lays itself on her shoulder, and Sonia nearly jumps out of her skirt. “Sorry.”

“Just a minute,” Nessa says, and while she doesn’t look unfriendly she certainly seems to look a little more like Gym Leader Nessa than Close Friend Nessa. “While I am not in the habit of stopping either of you from having a good time, I need to make sure you’re both fully consenting. She’s not using you, you’re not using her?”

Raihan stands just a touch straighter, meeting her pose. The people dancing around them step back, and a few are staring like a battle is about to explode. “Your concern is appreciated.” He holds his hand out to her; in it is Yamper’s pokéball and her keys. He doesn’t even look at her, keeping his gaze trained on Nessa, but the next words are for Sonia. “If you want to leave by yourself, you can. No hard feelings. I want you to come with me, but it’s always been your choice.”

Now, Sonia is far less hesitant. In front of Nessa and all these strangers, he’s putting himself on the line. She takes both the pokéball and her keys, puts them in her purse, and takes his hand. “Let’s go before my feet fall off.”

Both Gym Leaders visibly relax, and it’s like the air in the room has been filtered through a Weezing. “Have fun!” Nessa says, waving at Sonia before heading back to dance. “But call if you need it.”

His hand warms up quickly in her grip and after getting her coat and waving goodbye to a new bouncer, they are on their way. Sonia feels like she’s eaten a Marenie, with the way pins and needles are poking through her stomach and chest. Then as they’re walking down the street, the pins and needles start moving through her feet and soon become almost close to unbearable but she puts up with it because, well, she can’t exactly fly to his home.

Finally, he breaks the silence. “Nessa put you up to that?”

“She said she’s watching out for both of us. Making sure I wasn’t using you, or vice versa.” That undercurrent of anger seems to fade from his shoulders, which is good because she’s not feeling up for angry sex. She’d rather have him in a good mood.

They’re quiet for another moment before she says, “You know, it’s been a while since I’ve done this, so I might be a little, uhm, nervous.”

“How long?”

“… Probably six-ish years.”

“Thunder and lightning, are you kidding me?”

“Wow, thank you. Just what I wanted to hear.”

“You deserve better than that.”

It’s amazing how those five words suddenly shift the perspective on her own situation. But now she’s curious about his side. “And you?”

“About two years.”

Now _that’s_ a shock. Raihan’s not a man-whore – more of a serial monogamist – but she didn’t think he was the celibate type either. _Wonder what happened with the last one_. She decides not to ask; even mental competition is going to ruin her night.

And speak of ruining her night… her feet are getting worse. They were burning before, but the pain has gotten more intense with every step. She starts adjusting her gait, but even that’s not helping much. Raihan notices soon enough. “You all right?”

“My feet hurt,” she admits. “Maybe slow down a little.”

Now he gives her a sharp look. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I did, at the club,” she says under her breath. “Because what does it matter? We have to walk back, and I’m not taking off my shAAAA!”

And he picks her up like she’s a freaking princess, his expression sour. “You don’t have to walk,” he grits out as he strides on. “I know you have a hard head, but if you think I can’t carry you a few blocks back home, then you are being purposefully idiotic.”

“Idiotic?! What the– how dare– I can’t even….!”

“I am this close to throwing you over my shoulder and spanking you! And before, it was just going to be for fun.”

She kind of makes a sound between a strangled gasp and a yell. Now he’s smirking and she feels her cheeks redden and her anger has dissipated as she feels the pain in her feet start to lessen. He carries her like it’s nothing, though admittedly they only need to walk a block before reaching his complex, a crystalline building that spirals into the sky located right across the street from Hammerlocke Stadium. Once there, she insists she can walk because she is definitely _not_ getting carried into his complex like a damsel in distress. He disagrees but puts her down when she threatens to bite him – and not in a fun way. Inside, the lift takes them up to the penthouse as Sonia resists the urge to cut off her ankles, shifting her weight back and forth to lessen the pain on each side.

When they reach the top, Raihan doesn’t even ask before picking her up and tossing her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Before she can get a word out, he straight-up smacks her left ass-cheek and she lets out a shriek barely muffled by her jacket’s collar. It doesn’t hurt, more of a surprise than anything, but the shock makes her jump in his arms.

“That was a juicy sound,” he says with a grin so wide she can literally hear it in his voice. “I can’t wait to see if tastes that good, too.”

“I am going to kill you.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” he sing-songs as he unlocks his door, dips down (because he is so damn tall that she’d hit the doorframe if he didn’t) and takes her right to the master bathroom. With little fanfare, he sets her down on the edge of a fancy tub and points to her feet. “Take your shoes off and turn on the water. This knob is hot, this one is cold. I’ll be back.”

She removes her heels and is less than happy to see abrasions forming at the backs of both ankles and blisters on lateral side of her feet. She cranks on the hot, a little cold, and, as soon as she gets the temperature where she wants it, plugs the drain and lets her legs soak to mid-calf. _Ahhh, bliss._ She could fall asleep like this.

“How bad is it?”

She turns to face him; in light of the bath and her fading pain, she almost forgot she wasn’t at home. But he walks in wearing a pair of sport shorts… and nothing else. His hair is loose and falls against his neck, and it gives him more of a roguish attractiveness than usual. He’s got a dusted layer of black hair on his chest that aims down through his abs and towards his hips and a very visible Adonis belt. The gold chain and pendant are still around his neck, almost winking at her. Her tongue gets stuck inside her mouth, and Sonia makes a feeble gesture to her feet.

Now he scowls when he sees the injuries. “You are a piece of work.” But without a second thought, he kneels down at the side of the tub, grabs a bar of soap, and gently lathers her feet and legs up to her knees. “We’ll clean them proper, keep any infections from setting up shop. Looks like the blisters have already popped – did you do that?”

“No.”

“Good. It’s better to let them break on their own and cover them up.” He finishes, rinses and towels her off, then carries her into the sitting room on a large, rather indulgent U-shaped couch. She sinks right in and almost melts into the cushions. In front is the wall-mounted telly, and next to that on an expensive side table sits his six pokéballs on a special display shelf, their names engraved on little metal plates. She can see evidence of Pokémon toys and beds through the room so she assumes that, like her and many others, he usually keeps one or two out when he’s home relaxing. However, given the night’s expected events, she imagines he is opting for privacy.

He grabs a jar of some sort from the coffee table and starts rubbing its contents into her wounds. He’s kneeling at her feet, and while the pose is not very sexy it is rather intimate. His fingers feel knowledgeable as they slowly massage the ointment into her skin.

“What is that?”

“An herbal medicine mix. You don’t _really_ need this but it has some numbing properties along with antimicrobial ones. Milo makes it for me and some of the other Gym Leaders. We spend a lot of time on our feet, training and teaching. I’ve gotten blisters breaking in new shoes at the Gym, so I always keep a jar on hand.”

That makes a lot of sense; no wonder he was so annoyed about her hurting herself. Finally, he caps the jar and heads back to the bathroom. She braces herself to stand up, but he puts a hand on her shoulder. “You have to use the bathroom or something?”

“No.”

“Then you stay right there for a few minutes. Walking will rub the ointment off.”

_Well, don’t have to twist my arm to make me relax_. It’s only a minute before he comes back and sits down next to her. This time, however, he only takes her hand.

“I think…,” and it takes him a moment to continue, “that we need to talk before we go any further. What I mean is, I’d like to lay down some ground rules. Feel free to add your own.” A nod, and he continues. “If either of us don’t like what’s happening, we can both say stop. If we change our minds, no matter how far along we are at any point tonight, it’s fine to say ‘no’. Soft ‘no’s can be used for slowing down, but we should both have safe words that means a hard stop.”

It makes her feel good to hear him talk about this. It’s not something she usually discusses before pulling in, but the fact that he’s got this planned means that he’s thinking of both of their comfort. It’s making her more excited about the rest of the night. “Then, my safe word is ‘Yamper’.” It always is.

“Mine is ‘Sandstorm’. Second, do you have anything that you absolutely don’t want to do?”

This is going to be a bit embarrassing, but so be it. “I don’t do anal. At all. To me or to you. And I’m not into choking, bloodplay, or anything with weird bodily fluids.”

“Would you be against getting videotaped?”

That’s a thought she’s never had before but considering Raihan’s hobby it makes sense that he’d be into that. “Not yet. Maybe if I trust this,” and she vaguely indicates their joined hands, “a little more and am less concerned you’re going to use it against me in the future. What about you?”

“I’m not one for getting buggered, either, though I don’t mind playing around there if she’s into it. But I call a hard stop on torture-pain or humiliation, and all the stuff you said. We can work our way into anything else if it comes up.” Thank Arceus; he doesn’t sound way out there with his kinks.

“I have one last thing, and I don’t know if it’s going to make you upset, but here goes,” and he moves to kneel at her feet again, holding her other hand too, and takes a deep breath to center himself. “For the next 24 hours, you are banned from saying Leon’s name, talking about him, or thinking about him beyond simply being Hop’s brother. I mean, I can’t control the last part but you get the idea.”

Now some ice grows in her chest, making it hard to breathe and speak. Is this jealousy on his part, or something else? Did she already do something wrong? But Raihan squeezes her hands. “Look, Sonia, you’ve been carrying a torch for Leon for years. The look in your eyes when you talk about him, even as a kid, is hard to ignore. But now you’re here with me, in my home, maybe in my bed. If I want to have even a fighting chance against so many years of that, I need you to stop comparing me to him. And it needs to start by taking him out of this picture.”

“I’ve never-”

“When your brain is so used to thinking about one thing, one person, it’s hard to break the habit. You may not even realize you’re doing it. I know, because I’ve been there, too. But I’m asking you on my knees – give me this weekend without him. Just you and me, no one else. _Please_.”

Without hesitation, she says, “Yes. Of course. I’m so sorry – I feel like I’m going to say that a lot over the weekend – but I am. I’m not trying – I mean you know I’m not trying to compare you to anyone else. And I won’t. You’re right. This next day or so has nothing to do with anyone else.”

“It might mean ignoring your Rotom.”

Oh, right. The rain check. “I’ll set it to silent, and answer only if I get calls from Hop or Gloria. There could be something going on if they’re calling me on the weekend.”

“Fair enough. Same for me – work things could happen. On the same token, I will try very hard not to get obscenely angry if the subject happens to come up. It’s just…,” and he looks down at their joined hands before continuing, “When you’ve been someone’s rival for years and they’ve gotten what you always wanted in a lot of ways, it’s hard not to feel bitter about it.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine now. You’re giving me a chance, and I’m going to take it.” Now he straightens up and his face is getting close again as his fingers start stroking the backs of her hands. “So unless you’ve got anything else to add, I’m thinking of using my mouth for another conversation.”

“Talking? You?” she repeats, a teasing echo from their earlier phone call, and she runs her hands up his arms. His skin is warm and the cording of his muscles under her fingers is a fascinating landscape to study. She makes it up to his shoulders, broad and toned and strong enough to carry her, and decides that she’s going to enjoy kissing them and leaving marks.

“Still don’t mean talking,” and his hands go around her back and pull her in, and they’re kissing again, meeting and separating before she goes for his earring and he dips into her neck. She kisses his earlobe, gently sucking the gold stud before nibbling her way up his ear; the groan against her chest is very satisfying. In return, he licks and bites the spot where neck and shoulder meet – not hard, but enough to set her nerves on edge – and she gasps and arches her back right into him. He’s found a _really_ good spot and milking her reaction for all he’s worth.

Somehow, she’s pulled him on top of her so she’s laying down and his hands are relentless as they run up and down her body, hiking her skirt up until it barely covers her ass and now he’s gotten them under her shirt and she cannot keep up with this because she wants to touch him everywhere but there’s so much Raihan and not enough her.

“Take off your shirt.” His voice is gravel and melted steel, and just a hint of desperation. It sounds very good on him. Sonia takes a hot second to quickly grab the hem and flip it over her head, then removes the hair-tie for further comfort. To her surprise, though, he just stares at her. Doesn’t move his hands from the couch, propping himself up as he takes her in.

“So… that’s what you wouldn’t tell me about?” and now he runs his finger down from the shoulder onto the cup of her bra. It’s dark blue-green, made of lace and cotton that’s decorated with little wildflowers, but it’s different from most of her day-to-day undergarments. This one has an impressive underwire that helps lift the girls up so well that she can almost smack someone in the face with them – and it’s unlined. As such, it’s very easy to see every part of her breasts because there’s nothing between them and the lace.

“It’s Kalosian,” she says, then mentally groans because he doesn’t need to know this nor does he care. She groans out loud when his thumb brushes over the lace – and her nipple.

“I like it. I’ll buy you a dozen more.”

_By the trio of Titans_ , she thinks as he continues to run his finger back and forth just to see her jump and arch. “That’s not really necessary. I just bought them for dressing up.”

“Then you’ll be dressing up every day. Besides, this is a present for me, too. Now, let’s see what’s down here,” and he slides down her body until he’s level with her thighs, her feet dangling down to the floor. He scoots up her skirt until he can see her thong from the front, a matching flowery lace deal that makes his eyes go just a little wider before grinning. “Remind me to get Nessa some new Ultra Balls as a thanks for making you buy these.”

He starts kissing her inner thigh, slowly moving forward, and all of a sudden she feels more embarrassed than when he was just looking. If he’s thinking of doing what she thinks he’s going to do, she’s not sure she’s clean enough. She showered and shaved, but only up to the bikini line and not much higher, and she doesn’t have her razor here. Oh, but maybe he does!

“Wait,” she says quickly, trying to close her legs. “I should go sha- _shower_ first.”

It doesn’t go over well. Mostly because he’s literally between her legs and holding them open with the ease of pushing silk curtains apart. But his expression flashes with something between impatience and frustration. “You need to understand something, Sonia. I’ve been wanting to touch you for _years_. I don’t care if you have a bush or not. Unless you’re on the rag, which I assume you’d tell me, you had better call a ‘Yamper’ if you don’t want me to do this.”

His admission makes her blush but also brings up a heat deep within her pelvis. “I won’t! I do, but I didn’t – I’m not – I onlAHH!”

And while she is babbling he pulls the thong aside with one finger and starts kissing and sucking and licking and now she’s screaming into her hand because he might be a couple years out of practice but this must be like riding a bicycle because he is doing exactly what her body is begging for and she manages to grab one of the throw pillows so that she can muffle her voice because she’s genuinely screaming from how good it feels how good _he makes me feel so good so deep so much almost too much but not enough because I’m not there yet I’m not there yet please don’t stop don’t stop_

He grabs the pillow and pulls it out of her hand without any fanfare before putting it under his knees. The sudden break makes her groan in disappointment. “I want to hear you scream like you mean it.”

“No, I’ll… wake someone up,” she gasps out during this brief intermission.

“You try and hold back, and I’m going to make sure you don’t come.”

“Are you seriously threatening me with orgasm denial?!”

He suddenly slides one long digit inside of her, and it makes her arch her back and shocks her into a silent scream. “Yes, I am,” and he gestures a ‘come hither’ motion that is just enough to drive her back to the brink before relaxing and pulling out. He repeats the action again, slow and delicious and utterly unbearable, and seems to have some psychic sense for when she’s almost there before stopping again. Yeah, this is not a winnable fight on her side.

“I won’t, I promise! I promise! Just please please Raihan please….”

A kiss on her hip. “Keep begging, sweetheart.”

And she does because his hand starts picking up speed until her body is focused on that one point and he is helping her climb that mountain and she wants to fall so badly she wants to jump from that edge into his arms into his hand and she keeps saying his name over and over like a prayer or a curse because he has her right at that edge like he’s winding a spring for maximum tension and finally he pumps _just right_ that she can only scream a wordless sound and hope that no one thinks she’s being killed or violated or whatever

but he lets her come down for only a handful of gasping breaths before doing it again a second time and this time the rise is faster because her body remembers the feeling so much more easily now and when she falls once more he pulls his hand back far enough to now slide two digits into her and then she can’t breathe and her throat is sore as he spreads her open with those fingers used for battling and training and teaching and winning and now she can’t stop coming she can’t stop because he’s not stopping and she’s dying all these little deaths for him and her body dances to the rhythm that he is setting and she’s convinced that she could dance for him as long as he likes

except that when he tries to use three fingers she yells, very clearly, “Wait!”

He pauses for a moment. “Is this a Yamper?”

“No,” she says in a voice hoarse from overuse and she needs an extra breath to speak. “But your fingers are massive and I haven’t done this in a long time so I just need a minute to… make it happen. But I don’t want you to stop.”

“That’s good. Because I’m trying to loosen you up so I fit.”

She gains a modicum of control, the curiosity of a scientist coming into play. “How big are you?”

“Bigger than two fingers.”

“What?!”

“You’re going to really stroke my ego if you keep that look on your face. Just wait until you see the real thing.”

But he takes his time working up to three, spending an inhuman amount of energy kissing and licking her lips, sucking on her clit to make her hips move on their own as if they were begging to take more and more of him and when he finally gets all three to fit she is wetter and slicker than she’s ever been with anyone else and it feels like he is touching the back of her throat and making her sing a coloratura’s solo and she’s almost too worn out to continue but he starts to rock her like he’s swirling water in a lake and she floats with him until the ripples turn into waves and she is barely keeping her head up in the raging storm that he’s building inside of her and suddenly she is turning into lightning that keeps on striking against his palm _over_ and _over_ and _over_ again and her voice is unceasing thunder ringing through the room until finally she is nothing more than a lost flower floating down to the kiss the now-quiet waters.

“Yamper.”

He pulls his fingers out very slowly, and she doesn’t need to see his face to know that he is pleased as all get-out with himself. She is still shuddering, her body throwing off the last of the orgasms as she is curled up deeper into the couch. He leans forward, planting a kiss against each inner thigh before replacing her thong, and then gives her a gentle kiss on the lips. She tastes herself on him, and has enough spirit to bite his lip in retaliation.

He bites her back, giving her a little wolfish growl to match the mark from his incisor. “What was that for, you minx?”

“As if you don’t know.”

Now he laughs. “I’ll bet I do,” and he heads to the bathroom to wash his hands. Sonia is impressed by how wet they are, then has a thought. She looks down and sees a not-small spot on the couch, then buries her head in her hands

“Raihan, did I ruin your couch?”

“No. You’re just a squirter when you’re coming that hard.”

“I… did not know that about myself.”

“No one did that to you before?” he teases, coming back from the bathroom with a towel.

“No. Nothing like that.”

He looks unamused now. “Guess that’s my secret, then. Good.” He drops the towel on the spot, presses it to wick up some wetness, then leaves it there. “I’ll clean this later. I’ve got bigger Basculin to fry.”

“I’ll help.”

_“You_ are going to stop trying to do anything except enjoy yourself tonight.” With that, he picks her up again ( _for the third time tonight!)_ and takes her into his bedroom. There’s a king-sized bed on a slightly higher-than-usual frame decorated in shades of white and green, with plenty of pillows for lounging on top of. He then literally tosses her onto the bed, making her shriek then flop down with laughter. “Don’t take anything off until I get back.”

She fixes her skirt so it’s back down her legs, but otherwise just makes herself at home and stretches out the last of her stress. He returns with a tall glass of ice water a few minutes later, and she immediately drinks half of it. He makes her thirsty – in more ways than one.

“Ready for Round Two?”

“I think so. I never got you off, did I?”

“No, but we’re not keeping score because if we do then I’ll win. So far it’s something like 8-0.”

“Then… how about I give you a show?” And she kneels on his bed and lifts her hair up with her arms. He steps back and a smile of mixed appreciation and desire starts to grow on his face. She lightly undulates back and forth – there’s not much room, since he won’t let her stand up and give him a proper lap dance – then slides her hands down her own body. She stops for a moment at her bra, giving her nipples a little flick, and suddenly his smile disappears and she’s watching as his shorts are starting to shift. But she doesn’t keep her hands still for long, instead sliding down further until she’s at her skirt. Another undulation, secretly grabbing the little zipper while he’s paying attention to what’s up top, and she manages to fight it down. It’s clumsy, and not super sexy, but it works and the skirt is loose enough to take off.

Deciding to take the punishment he may dole out for doing this, she stands on his bed so she’s taller than him _and_ can step out of the skirt. She pretends to keep on dancing, trying very hard not to fall, and then slowly turns around so he can see the little flower decorating her panties at the top – and the way the thong dips right between her cheeks and disappears underneath.

“Oh fuck,” he whispers. He didn’t get to see this view when he was eating her out.

A little bounce of her ass, not quite as good as some of the girls dancing today, but his eyes are glued to that flower. She teases him by sliding her thumbs into the waistband of the thong, pretending to push it down – then sliding her hands up and out to hold her hair again. She looks over her shoulder, and when his hands reach out to touch her, she playfully slaps them away.

“No touching. Not yet.”

She can hear a snarl but he doesn’t try again. As a reward, she keeps up the hip sway while she carefully undoes her bra’s hooklets. When they finally fall apart, she catches the bra and turns around. She’s topless now, with her arm covering her nipples just to tease, but Raihan watches like he’s about to be given the treasure of a lifetime. Another turn backwards, and she concurrently throws her bra at him. Score! It lands right against his shoulder, and he grabs it. She peeks over her shoulder again, and he’s holding the lace edge of one cup against his lips, staring right at her.

_Bloody blazes, that’s hot too._

Well, now there’s only one thing to do; she started this fight, so she better finish it. “Come closer, but no touching.” It’s not like she knows a lot about stripping, but she does know that guys generally aren’t allowed to touch the dancers – while the dancers have free reign. Well, this will be fun.

He obliges, dropping her bra and stepping right next to the bed. Sonia turns around and slowly brings her arms down and away, and now he can see almost all of her and she wants to turn shy because it momentarily hits her that _I’m doing a striptease for Raihan!_ But she pushes through and puts her arms around his neck to stabilize herself and she is slowly rolling her body up and down so that he can watch her breasts do the same, he can see them from every angle, and she gets so close to his face that if he wanted to he could kiss her but he holds fast to her order and keeps his hands at his sides. He licks his lips at least once, but he doesn’t try to touch her.

At one point, she starts sliding her nipples down his chest, bending down until she’s back on her knees, and he lets out a word that could be a curse or a plea because now she’s almost level with his hips but she wants to make him _beg_ for this because he shouldn’t be the only one to enjoy making their partner wild with lust, so she simply puts her thumbs in her waistband and pushes down as she starts to stand back up until she is wearing nothing but the air hanging between them.

“Sonia-” but she lays a finger against his lips.

“You have been far too cocky tonight. Time to see what it’s like on the other side.”

She rubs herself against him again, her hands on his shoulders for balance, and as she slides back down, she starts kissing a line down like an arrow to his groin. Just as she’s about to reach his abs her hands fall and, with a quick peek upwards to check her positioning and watch his face, she pinches both of his nipples.

He lets out a roar as his back arches, but Sonia doesn’t let go. Rather, she relishes the sounds he’s still making – gasps and groans – and resumes teasing him with her fingers and her tongue. Her legs are a little long, especially with assistance from the higher bedframe, so she has to slide off the edge of the bed to make this work. She gets her mouth right on one of his hip-bones and starts sucking his skin, and boy it sounds like he likes that and he’s actively pushing against her like she’s a magnet and he’s made of steel but she lets it go for the moment because there are more important matters at hand.

Or, more accurately, at mouth. Because she uses her right hand to slide under the elastic of his shorts so she can push them off _just enough_ to release him and her mouth follows the line of his hip right to the center and with a little jump of her lips she leaves his body and swallows him whole.

_“Sonia_!”

He’s thick, but not so big that she’s can’t enjoy herself while playing with him. Maybe later she can visually appreciate him, but right now it’s more important to make him feel just as amazing as he made her feel. It’s been a while since she’s done this, and she has to be very conscious of her teeth, but she curls her lips and that smooths everything out and she can get really into the spirit of the moment.

And now he’s leaning forward, bracing himself on his hands against the bed as he moans but he _will not touch her_ and the fact that he is so damn determined to respect the game ups her enthusiasm. She uses her hands to completely divest him of his shorts _oh wow those are some awesome thigh muscles_ and adds one hand to help her lips while the other holds her against his legs. She pumps up and down in a slightly irregular beat but he pushes his hips into her grip so she takes that as a positive sign.

“Sonia,” and he tries to tell her something, but the words are decidedly _not_ in Common so she feels free to ignore it. He tries a second time, sounding more urgent, but she is really taking a lot of pride in driving him to madness so well that he can’t even speak correctly. No safe word yet, so it’s all good.

Then he breaks the rules and his hands come down to grab her head and pull her off him. He’s breathing very hard, and looks like he’s about to burst an artery, but he looks right into her eyes with his pupils blown wide and seems to get control of himself.

“You tart,” he gasps out. “You were trying to make me come.”

“Yes.”

“If you do that then I can’t properly fuck you. And I am going to fuck you tonight,” he grinds out, punctuating every word.

It’s a thrill to hear him say that so she decides to jump straight for the endgame. She stands up and kisses him and he kisses her back and this, _this_ is where it’s going to start as he picks her up by the thighs and puts her on the bed. He opens the drawer of one bedside table and pulls out a foil packet; within seconds he has a condom on and is joining her on the comforter, kneeling over her with his hands on either side of her shoulders.

She knows what he’s going to say when his brow furrows and he looks just a little hesitant. “Yes.” She puts her arms around his neck, pulling him down for a slow, sedate kiss that nevertheless makes her heart race. “Raihan, please.”

It’s like she turned a key, and he starts kissing her like he’s going to devour her, and his mouth moves to her neck while one hand reaches back down and oh good Dialgia he’s using his fingers again and he’s playing with her, making her wet and wanting but never reaching the edge because before she can get there he takes his fingers out and she feels something else in their place and he rubs the length of himself along her lips a few times to get just a little more lubrication and now she’s getting a little impatient but doesn’t say anything because now

_now_ he is right there, and yeah even after getting stretched out it still takes a moment of deep breathing to relax enough so that he can slide in but when he does it’s like everything is falling into place like the cogs in a Klank moving in perfect time, like a shooting star cutting the evening sky in half, and they take a moment to just be connected before he says something that she assumes means ‘I’m going to move’ and he does but it’s not too fast or too deep it’s like he’s trying to make her heart beat a rhythm to match his own, like he’s helping her climb that mountain again

and soon enough they aren’t climbing they’re flying as he picks up speed and she lifts her hips so that he can hit _that spot_ over and over and he’s so much taller than her that she can’t kiss him while they’re in this position but she can bite his shoulder as she starts to scream and her brain catches up to the fact that _me and Raihan we’re together and this feels good and I like this I want more of this_ and she reaches the sun first and explodes like a firework in the sky as she holds on fast to him

but he’s not there and he gets faster and faster as he races up to join her, speaking words she doesn’t know but in a tone that tells her he adores her and that thought combined with the pace sets her on fire a second time and she screams his name and he moans out hers a moment later as he holds her tight, filling her so deeply that she can actually feel the pulse of his body and she doesn’t want this moment to stop because she wonders if this is what it’s like to be with someone who wants to be with her too.

They share a few more touches before he pulls out and collapses to her side. Neither of them speaks as she borrows his shoulder as a pillow and he kisses the top of her head. It’s just enough to lay together.

Finally he sighs. “I better clean up and throw this away.”

“I should go to the toilet, myself.”

“You first.”

She does, and while she’s washing her hands he comes in and turns on the shower, made of full-length glass and giving her easy visual access to everything she likes. He’s already removed the condom and lets out a sigh of release as he steps under the hot water. Weariness is bone deep, but Sonia sits on the toilet to watch him.

“You coming in?”

“If I get in, I won’t want to come out. But I can leave if it-”

“Sonia, if I have to tell you one more time that I want you around, I’m going to strangle you with my Sandaconda. It’s hot that you want to watch. I’m just making an offer to share space.”

_We go from having mind-blowing sex to threatening each other. Sounds about right_ , Sonia mentally laughs. But then she just sits there and looks at him because she can, because he wants her there, because this is one of those quiet moments between lovers that can mean just as much as the most mind-blowing sex because it’s theirs, only theirs.

She starts falling asleep like this, so she heads to his bed. She pulls down the covers and, given that his Rotom is on one nightstand, she takes the other one to rest her phone. She’s got no pyjamas but decides to simply huddle under the blankets and wait for him to return.

She closes her eyes, breathing the scent of him, and remembers nothing more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes (02/19/2020): *throws confetti*
> 
> I realized as I was writing the original story that I really wanted to write Sonia and Raihan getting together. Not just for the sex scenes, which were all sorts of fun, but because I wanted to see if I could really make it work. If I could make Sonia/Raihan into a believable, realistic pairing. This is probably going to blow up in my face, since I’m not sure how many chapters this will have, but I’m giving them the chance to be together.
> 
> So a great deal of this story will be a little like a visual novel, where you can travel some of the same paths through multiple characters. As such, there are parts in this story that are similar or the same as 'Your World Was Not Mine'. The difference is often in the tone, and Sonia’s response to the situations. I'm curious to see how many people have a lean or preference the farther along we get into these stories.


	5. The Blend of Sunrise and Sunset

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Leon is no longer the Champion and things are changing for the younger generation, perhaps the future will shift in a direction that Sonia has never expected. When she decides to accept an invitation to go out dancing with Nessa and Raihan, she finds out that there may be more than one dream and more than one kind of happiness.
> 
> Chapter 5 (EXPLICIT): In previous relationships, she’s always held a part of herself back. Always kept some of her soul secreted away for the ‘just-in-case’ that never happened. But Raihan… he knows her secret. He knows her and he’s willing to go toe-to-toe with that long-smoldering history because he thinks she’s worth the risk.
> 
> This is the divergence from my first story 'Your World Was Not Mine (Your Eyes Told Me So)', and will run parallel to the original, for at least a little while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Musical Accompaniment: The Winding Path, by Kavin Hoo (Above the Clouds CD). It technically works through the whole chapter, though it really sets the mood for the morning interactions.
> 
> Oh, and I slightly miscalculated Sonia's height. The reference I was using states that she's 5'10" - but that's wearing her boots, which have to have at least 2.5" heels on them. So without heels, I'm assuming she's about 5'7", which makes Raihan a full foot taller than her.
> 
> As per my previous chapter, there happens to be some EXPLICIT content at the beginning. Please keep this mind as you read.

She wakes up in the morning warm and content. The blankets around her, Raihan’s arm slung over her hip, the morning light streaming through the curtains all paint an idyllic picture; she feels oddly rejuvenated even though they couldn’t have gotten much sleep.

Reflexively she checks her Rotom and can’t quite tell if she’s happy or not that there are no messages from anyone. And it’s far later in the morning than she expects – no wonder the light woke her up.

She sighs when she realizes she has to go to the bathroom and leave the comfort of the bed, but she scoots out without waking him up and dashes in. Morning ablutions taken care of, she returns to bed and dives back into warmth. He makes a soft sleepy sound as she cuddles into him, making him spoon her, and she closes her eyes to muse over the night. She drifts through the different memories, because a lot of things happened yesterday, but she promised to avoid thinking of _someone_ so she jumps to the club then to his flat then the couch and the bed and now….

Now she’s under his covers, being held by a dragon protecting his gold, and can’t help but feel secure and warm and

_you’re thinking he feels something more; more than just ‘liking’ you_

She thinks this because the way he’s been treating her isn’t the way you act around someone you just want to casually date. Sonia knows; she’s dated other men who _never_ acted like this right after sex. It would be too early to be this vulnerable. Both sides would go through the motions of feeling each other out, trying to decide if the relationship was worth it or if it was better to just cut their losses. She and he would take some time figuring out if their personalities, life goals, values, and morals matched up – which they inevitably didn’t.

But she doesn’t have to do all of that with Raihan. She doesn’t know everything about him – she’s never met his parents and doesn’t know what he was saying last night – but she knows where his moral compass points and the kind of person he is. She knows he’s brash and arrogant and more than a little vain, but she also watched him train his apprentices with utmost patience, train himself without care for his own injuries but so sensitive to his Pokémon’s pain, and seen how he acts when he’s under fire both inside and outside of a battle.

In previous relationships, she’s always held a part of herself back. Always kept some of her soul secreted away for the ‘just-in-case’ that never happened. But Raihan… he knows her secret. He knows her and he’s willing to go toe-to-toe with that long-smoldering history because he thinks she’s worth the risk.

Yes, she’d bet money that he’s in love with her. It’s an intimidating thought.

She feels him shift behind her, feels something get a little firm against her hip. Hmmm, he must be waking up. She listens to the change in his breathing, hears the cotton rub against itself, feels the push of his legs as he separates hers. He pulls her in a little closer and his body is so much bigger than hers that she’s almost engulfed in him. Yup, she knows _exactly_ what that is. She runs her hand down his thigh, lightly scratching the skin, and he lets out a sound that’s more catlike than dragon. She keeps stroking up and down as he gets harder until his hands go from her waist right up to her breasts. She lets out a little gasp of her own when his fingers grab her nipples, and she wriggles in his arms from the stimulation.

“I didn’t really get to play with these last night,” he murmurs into her hair. “But no time quite like the present.”

He is gentle with his attention, dotting soft kisses onto the back of her neck and shoulders as his fingertips roll her like tumbled gemstones, and it feels like she’s melting into the sheets, turning into molten lava that’s trapped inside a rumbling volcano but all she does is writhe and moan until at some point he flips her onto her back and palms one breast in his hand while he kisses her and yeah it feels really damn good and he’s humming with his own pleasure as his mouth travels down and starts licking and sucking her like she’s made out of ice cream and chocolate and when he finally gets his mouth where they both want it _sweet singing Meloetta there right there_! and there are words coming out of her mouth that she has no control over. She doesn’t quite come for him like this, but it’s getting her wet and a little anxious for more. At some point he looks up and sees just how impatient she’s being but all he does is laugh and return to playing with her. He even pins her hands down when she tries to grab _him_ , then goes back to slowly teasing her with his mouth, using the weight of his body to keep her from squirming away.

_Are you kidding me?!_

He is so obviously getting off on her reaction that he _slows down_ and she’s the one who’s snarling because it feels so damn good but she wants more and resigns herself to admitting it.

“Raihan…,” and she figures out the words she wants to say, “can I have you again?”

He looks up and grins at her, almost boyish in its happiness. “I’ll never turn down an offer like that.” Then he reaches over and pulls out another condom. This time, she takes the little break in action to look at him – really look at the shape of his body with its sharp lines and firm points. He’s powerfully built, helped along by all the exercise he must do with his Pokémon, and drinks the image of him on top of her. It’s a little astounding that he managed to fit inside once already but Sonia thinks that’s what practice is for and he can try to carve his place inside her life and inside her if that’s what he wants _you know that’s what he wants_. And once he’s where she needs him to be, she finds out that she’s still a little achy from last night’s antics but she’s willing to ride the discomfort because he makes her feel so good inside and out.

He moves more slowly this morning, like he’s taking a leisurely jog around the stadium rather than going for a full-out sprint. For all that he devoured her last night like a starving man with a banquet before him, now it’s as if he’s drinking an expensive bottle of tequila sip by sip, indulging in the taste, the sensation as it travels through him into her, and has decided that he shouldn’t be rushed. But Sonia really is going to have to strangle him because while every stroke manages to brush against every part of her and make her feel like she could do this forever, he is so measured that she can’t go higher. She tries bucking into him, but it’s a repeat of before and he takes her hands in his, locking their fingers together and holding her down, but the connection suddenly changes the energy and it doesn’t feel like he’s teasing anymore because the light in his eyes turns from mischievous to focused. He pushes himself as deep as he can go, and she lets out a gasp and tightens her grip on his hands as they are carved together in this position.

“Gods, you’re so beautiful,” he whispers, looking down at her as she stares back at him.

“Thanks,” she says, and feels so damn vapid because _really?!_ That’s her response?! “I just… I just can’t stop looking at your eyes. I keep getting lost in you.”

He closes his eyes, a look of internal struggle painted on his face, and she feels his body jump inside of her. “By Arceus, Sonia, you keep saying stuff like that and I won’t last much longer.”

She leans up and kisses him, brushing against his lips like a wave coming from the sea to bless him. “You make me feel so good – come with me.”

They travel together, looking at each other in the light, and she’s never noticed the contrast that his eyes bring to the lines of his face, or how long and thick his hair is, or that the difference in their skin tone makes the places where they meet so striking to look at, like afternoon sunlight meeting dusk’s shadows. But soon her eyes are closed and his head is bowed next to hers and she can feel his breath against her ear as they pick up speed together and she comes first, tightening her grip on him until he can barely move

but the instant she loosens up he pulls back out so that he can grab her legs and hold them up and together and he enters her again and she lets out a shriek because at _this_ angle he can go deeper than before and she claws the sheets because the depth is overwhelming and it doesn’t take long to make her come a second time but he’s straddling that line between fun and painful with near-surgical precision with what he’s doing and she’s trapped between screaming or making him stop but then he lets out a cry, gripping her legs against his chest with one arm as he comes and yeah looking at him holding onto her in that moment of ecstasy is a mental image she’s not going to lose for a long time, maybe never.

As he comes down from his high, he gently pulls out and lays her legs down before collapsing on top of/next to her, his head resting next to hers while their arms and legs are tangled together.

“That was good,” she smiles.

“I could do that every morning,” he grins back.

“I’m sure. Do you think I could shower with you now?”

He answers by getting up and helping her to her feet. The blisters still hurt, but she can walk now that the swelling has gone down. They shower together, playful and sweet but not sexual, and he lends her a towel and gets some bandages for her feet. There’s a comb in her purse so she doesn’t look like a complete monster now. She borrows some of his old clothes – a T-shirt that’s practically a dress, some shorts that are now makeshift capris, and he laughs but also has an odd look in his eye that’s almost possessive – before they head to the kitchen for breakfast.

“I don’t have much,” he admits, throwing on a casual tee and pants. “Eggs all right?”

“Please. Toast?”

“I’ve got some butter and the dregs of a magost berry jam.”

“Oooh, yache juice.”

They make do. He lives like a bachelor, meaning that he’s got enough food for himself and that’s about it, but cobbling everything together makes for a decent meal. Really, though, she finds that what she’s enjoying most is sharing these minutes with him.

Just as they finish, Raihan’s Rotom comes flying into the room. “Phone call from Mum! Phone call from Mum!”

“I’ve got to take this,” he says, grabbing the Rotom before answering. “Sa’am, Maman.”

Then the following conversation is completely beyond her reach. She listens with a hint of wonder; she’s never heard him speak anything but Common tongue before (outside of last night), and he’s obviously fluent in this language. When it becomes evident that this is will not be a short conversation, she releases Yamper and takes her outside for a small walk. She still only has her heels, and it looks a little funny under her borrowed clothes and mismatched jacket, but it’s fine – sort of. She winces as they rub against her blisters, and the bandages only temper the pain a small amount. Oh well, they won’t go far.

Yamper is thrilled to check out a new area, happily bouncing around and sniffing everything and everyone who goes by, but she’s good and comes back right when Sonia calls her name. They head back upstairs to his flat, and when she gets off the lift she sees that there are only two doors on the entire floor – Raihan’s, and another one on the opposite side and down the hall. One can only hope the other side didn’t hear the screaming last night.

She and Yamper enter, and he’s already in the sitting room on the couch playing on the Rotom. “Sorry about that, but I heard you talking with someone and thought that we could entertain ourselves,” she says, immediately removing her shoes and breathing easy.

“Just my mum,” he explains. “She likes to call on Sundays to talk. I mean, she loves to talk in general but I try to catch her up on Sunday.”

“What language was that? It’s lovely.”

“Verzi,” and he accents the first syllable with a soft ‘eh’ that’s practically a breath. “My family’s from Pasaar.”

Pasaar isn’t terribly close to Galar, if Sonia remembers her world geography, and wonders what brought him and his family so far over. “That’s the same language you were speaking last night, wasn’t it?”

“I sometimes get caught in it when I’m really, uhm, overwhelmed,” and this is the first time in recent memory that she’s seen Raihan blush; the tips of his ears turn red though his cheeks stay dark. It fills her with a little bit of impish pleasure to see that rare color.

“So I could make you do that again?”

“Do you only like me for my tongue?”

“It’s both a problem _and_ a solution.”

He lets out a laugh and pulls her into his arms. Yamper, thinking that they’re playing, jumps into their joined lap and starts nuzzling for attention. A final kiss from Sonia to both pup and man, then she stands up. “Do you have anything I could give her for breakfast?”

“I keep some canned curry in the fridge.”

She wrinkles her nose. It’ll do for now, but if she stays for lunch she’ll make something homemade for everyone. Yamper doesn’t seem to mind, though she doesn’t eat it very fast. Checking out his fridge, the range of options is limited but maybe they can go shopping.

A problem pops up, though, and Sonia mentally groans. “Hey Raihan, I don’t have any clothes except what I wore last night. I think I need to go home and change if we’re going to go out.”

“Fuck that; I’m going to be selfish and keep you this weekend. We’ll go out shopping for new clothes after lunch; my treat.”

She is going to have to spell this out for him. “Including my shoes. That I wear. For walking.”

He nearly vaults over the couch heading to his bedroom. “Oh damn! You did that just now for walking Yamper, didn’t you?”

“Yeah.” _What’s he doing?_

“How are your feet?”

“They hurt but I’ll survive.”

“Fuck! Sorry I forgot about that or I’d have gone to the shop this morning. What size do you wear? And clothes size?”

“5.5 shoes. Medium shirt. Size 10 trousers.”

“I’ll be back in a half hour, 45 minutes at most,” and before she can argue, he’s thrown on his usual outfit and sweatshirt, packed his wallet in his pocket, and headed out the door. “If you want, pull out Flygon to play with Yamper. She can’t hurt him.”

He’s gone before she can ask any further questions, though the look that Yamper shares with her makes her giggle. “Yes, I can’t wait to see what he picks either. Shall we look for a friend, and perhaps work on a curry for lunch?”

Yamper hops around, her little butt wagging so fast Sonia can almost see sparks. On the mounted table, she picks out the right pokéball and gently releases Flygon. For a moment she’s concerned that it won’t listen, but it certainly recognizes its home – and Yamper, too. _It was that same Trapinch all those years ago,_ she thinks wistfully.

The two of them find a ball and, trying not to make a disaster of his flat, Sonia elects to roll it back and forth over the floor. They race after it, knocking each other over like tussling siblings, but Yamper’s electricity doesn’t bother Flygon so they keep at it. Soon they’re playing with each other and not Sonia, which eventually leads to them curling up on a little bed and falling asleep.

Raihan’s not here and she needs to entertain herself, so of course the first thing she does is snoop around his apartment. It’s a relatively new construction, with deep gray hardwood floors and white cabinets that look like surprisingly clean for a guy living by himself with a handful of rowdy Pokémon. He actually has two bedrooms – the one they made a vigorous mess of, and a second room that’s been turned into a study with a giant desk and a double-monitor computer. She does refrain from completely rifling through his papers or whatnot, but it’s enough to see that he doesn’t just sit around all day and wait for Gym Challenges. She smiles when she sees pictures of (what she assumes to be) his family scattered around, along with some of him and his Pokémon. It’s sweet and adds just enough touch of him to make the rooms feel warmer.

The kitchen is directly connected to the sitting room, and fancy enough to make her a little envious. Gran’s mansion has a decent kitchen, but it’s dated and she’s going to have to drop a good chunk of change if she intends to bring it into the current century. But cooking here… ah, that could be enjoyable! Before she can stop herself, she picks out the berries she wants to use from a little basket he has on the counter and recipes come and go in her head until she settles on two and writes a mental checklist for groceries. She finds his knife set – far more expensive than the one she has at home, and if she’s not careful she’ll lose a finger _yikes watch yourself Magnolia_ – then goes about dicing and mincing before her pile is big enough. Hmm, they’ll need a side to go with this; mushrooms will do well but they’ll have to get that too. He’s got a massive amount of cooking oil in the pantry, and a good sturdy pot for frying that looks like it’ll serve her needs. But, for the moment, all the prep work is done.

Finally, she gets her Rotom and decides to text Nessa that things are fine and she’s being well cared for. Nessa replies with a pretty quick thumbs-up and a brow-waggling emoji, and they text-banter for a few moments before she starts to get bored again. In what she quickly realizes is a very poor decision, Sonia checks her CamGram feed – and nearly has a heart attack.

Raihan’s feed has new pictures of them, starting with the one they took at her front door posted last night, then a few with Nessa at the club, and the most recent pic is the two of them sitting on the couch with Yamper – with her in his clothes! – from twenty minutes ago. The implication is NOT subtle, because why else would Sonia be wearing anything besides her usual green-and-jeans, and there are a lot of comments in the feed making some not-totally-inaccurate innuendoes. Even Gloria gave the batch of pictures a heart (because she is nothing if not too perceptive for her age).

 _I told him no!_ And suddenly she’s angry, sharp and serrated, because she had told him she didn’t want to be recorded. She actually runs through a mental conversation ( _argument_ ) with him before she finally calms down enough to realize that no, he didn’t actually break any promises because she didn’t make this line clear, and no, she doesn’t want to pick a fight, and guess what? The reason why she’s angry is a lot deeper than just pictures and tags.

Because there is one voice that, if he has the time, generally comments on pictures of his friends; said voice hasn’t made a single comment of any of the pictures.

_Please don’t figure it out yet._

For a split second, her brain runs down that well-beaten path that leads to only one person. She wants to know what he thinks, how he feels, wants him to say _something_ because his opinion matters so much more than most peoples’ to her and she’s _absolutely terrified that he’s going to think I’m unavailable now_. She opens up her texts to see if he’s written to her and, when she sees the last one from him that’s a slap to the face, it’s how she gets herself under control.

 _No, he doesn’t belong here!_ she grits her teeth. _Calm down, Sonia. You made a promise to Raihan to give him your attention, and you will keep it!_

She very deliberately brings her Rotom back into the bedroom and sets it down to charge on his nightstand. But now she’s shaken, brought down from the high to wrestle with the insecurities that are always following her, waiting for her to make another mess.

 _This is why I said not to talk about him,_ she can hear a mental Raihan chastising her, and she doesn’t think she can cope with an argument after yesterday’s wretched events. She doesn’t want to fail, doesn’t want to let him down because he’s trying to do this too but she needs to _let this go but I can’t I need help_

She paces from one end of his home to the other, eyes darting around for anything to take her mind off – take her mind off – take her mind off –

Now she’s standing in front of a bookcase in his office that she didn’t expect him to have but it’s filled with both fiction and non-fiction and she recognizes her own book sitting there, and the pleasure that comes from that realization brings her back down, helps her calm those invasive thoughts. She pulls the book down and sees that he’s placed little sticky tabs at different pages. On those pages are photographs of Hammerlocke’s tapestry, pictures from Darkest Day, and other things that he probably finds personally interesting.

She grabs a pen off his desk. She’s not signed this book but decides it might be fun to leave him a little message and see if he notices. She opens to the title page and writes a little note with her florid signature.

_To one of my best friends, my favorite Dragon trainer. XXXs and OOOs – Sonia Magnolia_

She puts it back in place before taking a different book out – this one on weather techniques – and taking a seat on the couch (which looks like he managed to clean a bit during their break). Battling is technically in her past, but she opens the book to the section on Rainy Day and its effect on electric moves and decides to get comfortable. And yes, now she feels better and now she feels like she’s not going to rip herself to shreds over that choice but keeps the knowledge in the back of her head that _your habits are going to come back again even if it’s not right now_.

_Then I’m just going to have to keep trying harder._

It is closer to seventy minutes of shopping before he gets back with a decent-sized bag in his hand and looking a little peeved. “Are you all right?” she asks, mildly concerned as she puts the book down.

“Women have a metric fuck-ton of shit to decide when they go clothes shopping, don’t they?”

She decides against being smarmy and instead goes with, “We do. Thank you for running out and buying all that.”

“Don’t worry about it. Let me know what you think.”

He bought jeans that fit fine, an orange-striped shirt that is probably a hair too tight but will do for lounging around, and some white and orange trainers that are _way_ more expensive than the boots she usually wears. But he forgot to buy both socks and underwear; she can wear the bra again, but after what he did to her thong last night, she can’t wear it until it’s washed. Alas, she will simply have to borrow a pair of socks… and go without under her jeans.

She doesn’t tell him about the underwear part; she doesn’t want him to feel guilty over missing them, and it would probably put ideas into his head anyway. He grins when he sees her all dressed in the clothes he picked, and comes to the conclusion that she could be wearing an old canvas bag and he’d still get ideas. _Flatterer._

“I thought we’d go out for lunch, but it looks like you got this ready,” he nods at the berries.

Eating out _would_ have been less work, but right now it reminds her of her most recent date and she’d rather stay home and not get dragged down the path of comparisons. “If we go grocery shopping,” she says, “I can treat you to a homemade meal. Unless it’s not a sexy enough date for you.”

He pulls her into his arms, and his kiss is turning her from fire into electricity. She leans in to return the energy, and he drinks her deep before gently pulling back. “I just want to spend time with you. If you want to cook at home with me, I’d be thrilled. Most other women expect to be expensively wined and dined because they’re dating the Hammerlocke Gym Leader, so this is a rarity.”

That makes her brow furrow for a multitude of reasons, but her initial knee-jerk reflex is to be very annoyed on his behalf because no one should be treating her friend like that. He lets out a chuckle and kisses her between the eyes. “Come on, sweetheart. Let’s go.”

They make a quick run to the nearest market, and she ends up buying more than she thought but that’s fine, she’s got an excuse to stay and make dinner. He has the gall to fight with her about the purchases, then decides to let her win because he already paid for her new clothes (and she threatens to kick him in a body part he’s fond of). They come back and she gets to work; she makes him boil the pasta and toss some mushrooms in eggs and breadcrumbs while she starts mixing up the berries with the coconut milk and vodka sauce. He dances around her while she’s frying the mushrooms and has the nerve to grab her ass as she’s stirring the pasta into the sauce. When everything is done, there’s a nice sweet-sour pasta primavera with a side of fried mushrooms. She makes a shake from some of the leftover milk, sweet berries, and a very healthy dollop of honey. There’s enough for the two humans and two Pokémon to enjoy a plate, with plenty for tomorrow.

They don’t talk much, too busy eating, but when he’s done Raihan let’s out a sigh of satisfaction. “That was amazing. I forgot that you always made great curry when we were camping out. This was a real treat.”

“Yeah, for me too. Usually, only Yamper and sometimes Hop eats my food. Having a new audience is refreshing.”

“Man, it’s wild that he’s going to be a professor, too.”

“You heard about it?”

“Just a little from Glo. He’s doing good for himself, coming out from her shadow.”

They are edging so close to forbidden territory that Sonia must move the conversation. “He’ll be in Unova and Kanto. It’s almost a pity he won’t be in Hoenn, or Kabu might have been able to set him up with a good apartment.”

Raihan snorts in amusement. “Don’t kid yourself. Kabu would make him stay with his family and not charge a single pokédollar and be royally insulted if Hop refused.”

They talk and joke about nothing in particular, but the food’s settling down and she’s starting to feel sleepy. The lack of sleep from last night is catching up hard.

“You mind if I go lie down?”

“Nah, I’ll come with.”

They drop their dishes into the sink and do the bare minimum required to put away the leftovers; formal clean-up will have to wait. She flops down on the bed, and he lays right next to her. She’s _this_ close to telling him that she’s not really in the mood, but all he does is stroke her back like he’s using the moment to remember what her curves feel like against his fingers. It’s soothing and kind and it doesn’t demand anything from her. Rather, it feels so easy to be here, being together without wondering when the other shoe is going to drop and he’s going to have to kick her out because there’s more important stuff to do. Nevermind that she has to be back home by tonight so that she can give Hop his itinerary and a present before he leaves for his job; it’s just the principle of the matter.

“Thanks,” she mumbles into the pillow.

“For what?”

“For last night. For this.” She pauses, making sure she knows what she’s saying. “I’m glad I came here with you. I don’t know if this is going to work… but it’s been good so far.”

Now he pulls her into him, laying her head on his shoulder while he runs his fingers over her cheek and neck. Her arm has nowhere to go but over his chest. “Do you want it to work?”

“I… don’t know. A part of me is afraid that… you know… that I’m losing something else.”

A deep sigh that lifts her pretty high up before settling down; she knows he knows what she’s thinking about. He says nothing for a while, and Sonia doesn’t know what to say because she doesn’t want to ruin this even though now she’s worried she already did.

But then he says, “I know you are.” He now puts both arms around her, holding her like she’s going to turn into smoke and fade away. “Can we try, though, before we call this futile?”

“It’s not futile,” and she’s surprised by the vehemence in her own voice. “Even if it doesn’t work, that doesn’t mean this time together wasn’t important to both of us. Because it is. Because you are important to me.”

Now she sits up to look at him, leaning over so that she’s on top and he can look up at her with those eyes, _those eyes_ that she really could just stare into all day long. “I told Nessa that I could go home with any guy in that club, but I didn’t because they weren’t you. Because if anyone was going to be worth losing something over, it was you, Raihan. So no, I’m not sure how I feel about us as a couple in the long term, but I know that I care a lot about you so I’m willing to try – for you.”

Stunned is the proper word for how he looks, and now Sonia is a little self-conscious because that was some really heavy stuff to throw on his chest after a night of raunchy sex so she lays back down and blushes to herself and listens to his heartbeat through his pullover.

“Do you… can I talk for a bit? You don’t have to listen; it’s just to clear my head.”

Why does he need permission to talk? He hardly ever shuts up. “Okay.”

The words come out, stilted and short at first but gaining traction the longer he talks, and she is enveloped in a language she doesn’t know but enjoys its cadence and the timber of his voice as he speaks in sibilations and sweetness. And she feels his hand rubbing her arm as the other strokes her back and she’s like a Liepard being tamed with these pettings and both words and deed ease her so much that she doesn’t remember what happens.

All she knows is that she wakes a little later, still laying on his chest, still held by those hands that knew when she needed comfort and thinks _this… this is the start of something new_.

She stays late enough to help cook dinner, and they make a bit of a mess but it’s fun and delicious and so easy to be around each other, but then the sun’s past setting and she really needs to get home and they spend ten minutes saying goodbye before he calls her a Taxi and this is the first time she’s ever wanted to stay but she can’t and he knows it too and the smile on his face as he waves to her keeps her warm as she flies home with her dancing clothes in a bag.

After she gets home – she even beat Hop back! – she quickly puts his schedule and present on the kitchen table. His work doesn’t start until 7:30 the next morning, but she’s so beat she might sleep through his usual AM noise.

Just as she’s getting ready for bed, she sees that he sent her a text.

Raihan: **Next time I’m coming over to make a mess of YOUR couch**

She laughs, and it’s real.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes (02/26/2020): I mentioned it on 'Your World Was Not Mine', but I'm skipping next week's update due to needing extra writing time and having family things to attend to.
> 
> Thanks to everyone who's been reading and enjoying the story. I've been having a lot of fun too.


	6. Answers to Questions We Don’t Have

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Leon is no longer the Champion and things are changing for the younger generation, perhaps the future will shift in a direction that Sonia has never expected. When she decides to accept an invitation to go out dancing with Nessa and Raihan, she finds out that there may be more than one dream and more than one kind of happiness.
> 
> Chapter 6: "If it makes you happy to pine for Leon and turn down Raihan, then do it. If it would make you happy to date Raihan and give up on Leon, then do that. But you have two men who are very invested in your future, with or without them, and you owe them more than half-hearted intentions. More importantly, my dear, you owe it to yourself to love and be loved with all your heart.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Musical Accompaniment: Momentum, by Vienna Teng. Advise playing as Sonia gets into the argument with Leon, with the first refrain coming along with her confession. The second refrain goes with the paragraph about not knowing the words were true, and the final haunting refrain goes from Leon leaving the lab to Sonia falling asleep.
> 
> Many thanks to DezyPhresh for her beta reading efforts. Thank you for all your hard work! ❤
> 
> As a reminder - for those who read 'Your World', please make sure to read these chapters thoroughly. Feels kind of silly to say this, but there are some differences here (outside of the great big ones) that I hope people will pick up on.

Monday comes in gently, though the reason Sonia starts waking up is because she hears Hop banging around in the kitchen. She would like to hear how his weekend went, considering it was a surprise to Gloria, but doesn’t really have the energy to get up. She’d rather lounge in bed and think of new changes to her world. She runs the memories of the last two days through her mind again, dwelling heavily on the very enjoyable indulgences they shared, but also on the things he said and the meaning behind words that she didn’t understand.

And the fact that she has now chosen a path to walk that will lead her away from her first love. For all the joy Raihan brought her, this is a quiet pain that is hers to deal with.

She hears the door slam shut; Hop must be heading off to the first stop. She takes that as her cue get her arse in motion so that she can continue to be a (poorly) functioning grown-up. Getting ready this morning is easy, and she gets to the lab in a surprisingly short amount of time. Yamper hops along, enjoying the routine, and Sonia appreciates the fact that the lab itself is like an unchanging mountain of truth in her world. While she may have a whole bunch of nonsense to worry about as Sonia, she can be Professor Magnolia, expert on Galarian history and Dynamax evolution.

She is very much Professor Magnolia when she gets a scheduled call from Alola, from a man named Professor Kukui wanting to know more about Dynamaxing and whether there may be spots in other parts of the world because _have you ever heard of Totem Pokémon before?_ she talks to him for almost three hours. It’s a rousing discussion, and one that will need to be tested in the future probably by her going to Alola. Her mood is lightened by the thought of new experiments to be performed, in places she’s never been.

It’s past one when the lab door opens, and Hop is standing there looking a little nervous. “Hop, what’s wrong?” she immediately asks.

“You weren’t there this morning. I got my things, and went over to the Motostoke Pokémon Center to introduce myself but they said I’ll start working tomorrow, but I just…,” and his voice fades away and she has no idea what’s got him in such a mood before he gently slaps his own cheeks and says, “Professor Magnolia, thank you for everything. I’m going to miss working with you. And I haven’t opened the present yet but I will and you didn’t have to do it but I really, really mean it when I say I appreciate it and all the things you’ve done for me.”

She can’t help it; the smile he inspires in her is so easy, so natural. “Hop, you’ve been wonderful.” It takes her a second to realize that he looks like he’s waiting for something else, and she knows what it is. She strides over to him and envelops him in a hug; he responds so quickly with his own that it nearly leaves her breathless. “And you will be amazing.”

“I’m a little scared. It’s my first time doing this alone.”

“It will fade. And there’s always a first time for everything.”

He gives her one last squeeze; it’s almost funny that he’s now taller than her when five years ago he barely reached her shoulder. A lot of growth in one young man.

“Go on, though. You have plenty of things to keep you busy than visiting with me. Just send word from time to time.”

“I promise! Oh, hey, Sonia?”

“Yes?”

“Lee said to tell you that he’ll stop by this week to visit. Said something about making it up to you.”

_He heard he knows he knows I didn’t want him to know yet this is wrong this is wrong this wasn’t supposed to be out of control_

But she doesn’t say anything, just lets him go and he heads out the door without a backwards glance and she stands there unmoving, unbreathing, a glass sculpture carved in her shape and so easily destroyed by the tiniest of tremors under her feet.

She feels a panic set in, and it’s not because she’s afraid of him but a tiny part of her had hoped to keep this new relationship a secret for just a little longer while she felt out the right-or-wrongness of being with Raihan, so that he could still be a possibility and that dream didn’t have to die so soon.

_I need help._ And there’s only one person who can help her through this. 

“Hi, darling. How are you?”

She looks up at her Rotom, and her mother’s smiling face. It gradually changes as she looks at her daughter. “…Sonia? Sonia, dearling, are you well?”

Tears fall before she knows what’s happening. How can so many things be out of her control? “I… don’t think so. Mum, I need help and I don’t know what to do!”

“I’ll be there in twenty minutes, dear. The lab, correct?”

“Yeah.”

“Boil some water. I’ll bring your favorite tea. See you in a moment, dear.”

She hangs up, wipes her eyes, and immediately cleans out the teapot before filling it up, then scrubs the coffee cups still in the sink. The directions give her something tangible to hang on to, give her some grounding that she didn’t have before. By the time she hears another knock on the lab door, she might be able to talk.

Her mother Anise steps in, a woman of sixty years who carries herself with quiet dignity. She’s retired, which is why she can drop everything to come by, but frequently spends her time reading up on the history of different regions in the world and occasionally tutoring at the Uni. Sonia carries the love of history in her blood.

Right now, Anise carries a purse in one hand and a cloth bag in the other. “Take this,” and she hands the bag to Sonia with a kiss on the cheek. Inside is her favorite tea – a blue tea called spirulina mixed with dried petaya and pinap berries that is a bit more expensive than most people would prefer – and a tin of biscuits. She pours hot water for them, then fills up two empty teabags with the loose-leaf. While they steep, she gets two plates for each of them, and sets the table. Her mother has also pulled out a box of tissues, and Sonia laughs incredulously when she sees it. She does, however, bring the rubbish bin over because she’ll probably need it. She also locks the lab door.

When the tea is finished steeping, she brings the cups to the table and places one in front of her mother and herself before sitting down. They take a few sips of tea before her mother finally says, “So what’s troubling you so much that you call in the middle of a workday?”

She pretty much word-vomits all over her mother. She starts from Hop’s acceptance, which Anise is pleased to hear about, up to the broken date and Raihan’s confession. At that point, she realizes that she’s about to describe an amateur porno, and immediately stops talking.

“So? What did you decide, dearling?”

Sonia does what any proper 30-year-old woman does when talking to her mum about sex – she lies through her damn teeth. “So I told him, yes, I’d like to give it a go, and I visited him yesterday and we spend the day together at his place.”

Anise is not a stupid woman, but she nevertheless nods and doesn’t push. She gestures for Sonia to finish, who then explains that _he’s_ going to stop by soon, which simply makes her sigh and shake her head. Sonia cries only once through the whole explanation but she’s open about it and her mother lets her do so without trying to bank the flow. She lets Sonia talk without offering more than a ‘tsk’ or a ‘hmm’ or a tissue here and there.

“So that’s it. I’m going to try dating Raihan, but a little part of me is afraid of letting go of my feelings for our beloved ex-Champion. And knowing that he’s going to come by just threw me into the worst panic and I’m just… just at a loss.”

“It’s a hard situation,” Anise starts with. “I don’t envy being that young. Do you think you made the right choice to start with?”

Sonia doesn’t feel young; she feels decrepit, like an old, out-of-date textbook. “I… don’t regret the choice with Raihan. I just… like I said. I wanted to have more time hiding this. But it’s not like I’m embarrassed of him or me or us! Ugh! Sword and shield, I sound like such a prick.”

“You are afraid of the door to Leon being closed.”

“… Yes.”

“Have you talked to Raihan about this?”

“A little. I mean, he knows – _everyone_ knows – who I’ve been pining for. But this came so abruptly that I thought about calling you first. And the thought of calling him with this particular fear seems like rubbing salt into a wound.” And she sets a mockery of her call. “Hi, Raihan, I’m in a bit of a pickle because your best friend-slash-greatest rival is coming by to visit me and I’m scared of straight-up telling him that I’m dating you because I am still in love with him even though I really do want to try dating you in the hopes that this old unrequited love nonsense goes away.”

A little smile quirks up the side of Anise’s mouth. “Quite insensitive, I do agree. Though I do think you’ll have to dig into this with him at some point.”

“Certainly. He deserves to know what’s going on. Just… not this second. Not until I know what I want or should do.”

“Point taken,” she nods. “So let us, perhaps, go about this in a different direction. You are afraid of him knowing. Is there a particular reaction that you’re afraid of him having?”

This is her mum’s Teacher Voice coming into play. She loved to educate by having Sonia think of answers instead of giving them away. “Not really.”

“Would you feel better if he was happy for you and Raihan?”

She never really considered that. “Maybe.” She thinks for a minute while sipping on her tea before saying, “I think I’d be a little stung by the fact that he’s _not_ upset. That he’s not going, ‘oh wait, I just missed my chance with her’. But I’d also be a bit relieved. It would mean that he really, truly didn’t know that I was in love with him. It’d clear the air and make it easier to stay friends.”

Anise nods and takes some time before saying, “All right. That sounds good. How about if he were some variation of unhappy or upset?”

“Like, angry?”

“Allow me to set the stage. You are in the lab, and he comes storming in saying, ‘Sonia! I have seen the light! You are the love of my life, and I cannot allow you to continue dating Raihan! Run away with me to Wyndon!’” Both women fall into giggles at the overdramatic tones before Anise continues. “What would you do, then?”

“I think I’d be really, really angry. As if he were keeping me in constant reserve and couldn’t be bothered to act until I disappeared. I’d probably tell him to go pound salt.” Well, she wouldn’t really, but she’d be clear that she’s not breaking up with Raihan just to soothe his ego. It might be what’s she’s wanted to hear for so long, but not like this.

“A reasonable response. Let’s go into the middle, since that is the most likely response. What if he seems happy but you sense some… concern, shall we say.”

“I… as a friend, I’d want to find out what he’s so worried about. But I’m not sure I’d want to poke too hard because it would be easier to just let it be.”

They sip tea and eat another biscuit before Anise says, “The three of you – I’d hope that you’d always remain friends. You’ve all been through quite a bit together, and it’d be hard to hear that things became so irreparable that you’d no longer have that friendship. But… it will inevitably change if you and Raihan remain a couple and you will, without a doubt, lose the chance to have a love with Leon.”

“Yeah,” and she hesitates before she asks, “Do you think I should do it, then? Date Raihan, even though you know how long I’ve been in love with…” and she trails off before saying his name.

“I am going to advise you to do what makes you happy. That’s all any parent wants for their child, no matter how old their babies are.”

“It would be nice to have a straightforward answer. But I suppose that life isn’t straightforward.”

“No, even when you’re as old as I am, as old as your Gran was, things aren’t often simple. But remember what I said – _I want you to do what makes you happy_. If it makes you happy to pine for Leon and turn down Raihan, then do it. If it would make you happy to date Raihan and give up on Leon, then do that. But you have two men who are very invested in your future, with or without them, and you owe them more than half-hearted intentions. More importantly, my dear, you owe it to _yourself_ to love and be loved with all your heart.”

That insight cuts into her; it doesn’t eviscerate her so much as release this unseen tension from deep inside, like a muscle so swollen that it has to be cut open or it’ll die and turn gangrenous. The pressure spills away, leaving her weak and worn but still alive as she comes to grips with the fact that no, she’s not happy and no, she doesn’t want things to be like this between all of them anymore because she has the capacity to change it.

She wants the chance to be happy. And if that means losing a love that he didn’t even know existed, then she will do it because she doesn’t like being like this, being made a wreck while he blissfully goes about his life unimpeded by a love that seems so far-reaching that it may as well be on the moon. She now has someone who sees her worth, and she’s going to try and show him the same.

Her mum pours more hot water into her cup, watching her daughter with a quiet knowing eye, and the warmth seeps from Sonia’s hands through her bones. They continue to sip tea and munch on the treats before Anise looks at her watch. “It’s getting a bit late. Would you like to join your father and I for supper?”

Sonia doesn’t really have to think about it. “That’d be lovely. Thanks, Mum.”

“Don’t worry, darling. Your father and I will be happy to spend some quality time with you.”

The two of them clean up the lab’s kitchen, and Anise repacks everything that Sonia doesn’t need. She gives her daughter a kiss on the cheek as she heads to the door.

“I’ll see you tonight.”

“I’ll bring some cinnamon bread from the bakery for a side.”

“Wonderful. Oh, and before I forget – Dr. Weston retired a few years ago, and there is a new physician is running his family medicine clinic. Her name is Dr. Cooper. She has gracefully taken over the care of his former patients and is doing a bang-up job.”

This non-sequitur throws Sonia for a proverbial loop. She hasn’t been to the doctor in years so why is this a thing? “Uhm, all right?”

“My suggestion is that you may want to make an appointment with her sooner rather than later to get started on birth control.”

“MUM!!!” And Sonia absolutely did NOT want nor plan to have this conversation so how the hell did they end up here???

“I’m just saying, I’d like you to be married before I become a grandmother.”

“Please stop before I die!”

A pat on the cheek. “You will live, darling. Just make wise choices,” and she hustles herself out without a backwards glance, which is good because Sonia is so red she’s turning into a sunny Castform and can’t actually deny the charge.

Still, she enjoys the rest of the night with her parents (even if she can’t look her mildly amused mother in the eye for most of it) before heading home with leftovers and a semi-clear plan in place. There’s one final detail to straighten out, though, and perhaps the most important.

She pulls out her phone and checks her texts. Raihan had sent a message while she was over at her parents’ house and she only replied with a ‘busy’. Once she gets into her house and locks the door, she calls him.

“Hey, sweetheart,” and good Giratina, his voice is nearly dripping out of Rotom. Has he always sounded this smooth and warm?

“Hi, Rai. Sorry about earlier – I was visiting my parents.”

“It’s fine. I just like talking to you.”

“Me too,” she smiles as she sets out some food for Yamper, then mentally braces herself for this next part. “Can I talk to you about something?”

“Sure,” though the tone of his voice is something more wary now. “What’s going on?”

“Remember how all of this began because someone broke a date with me?”

“Yeah.”

“Hop just told me this afternoon that his brother wants to stop by to visit, maybe make it up to me for Saturday.”

He’s dead silent for almost a full thirty seconds; Sonia can’t even hear him breathe. But finally, he says in a very neutral voice, “So what do you want to do?”

“I… want to tell him that we’re dating now.”

A rather large exhale, like he hadn’t been breathing for the past two minutes. “Bloody hell, woman, you are going to give me a heart attack!”

“What?”

“I honestly did not expect those to be the words that came out of your mouth. I thought you were calling to break up with me.”

That stings because she understands how he’d think that, and she doesn’t like the idea that he both loves her and fears her for the power she wields over his heart. “No, Rai, I’m not breaking up. I want to keep going.”

“Good. Me too,” and there’s a complicated sound in his voice, like an orchestra with one hidden instrument slightly out of tune, but Sonia’s no musician and can’t parse out the problem so she’ll just have to let it go for now.

“But I’m calling because I still want us – all of us – to be friends. So, I want to know what you want me to do.”

“I’m not following.”

Hmm, this might take a minute to outline all the options. “Okay. If you are fine with me spending some time with him, _being friends_ , then I’d tell him so and we can have a not-date. If you are _not_ fine with me being alone with him, then I’ll turn down any offer. If you want to make your agreement contingent on coming with or another request, I’ll make that very clear too.”

She can practically hear him chewing over the options. “So, you’ll do what I want?”

“I mean, within reason. You’re not the boss of me.”

A bark of a laugh. “Yeah, that’s always been obvious. No one’s the boss of Sonia Magnolia.” But then he gets softly serious again. “I’m not really happy at the idea of you two being alone together. It rubs me wrong for a couple of reasons. But… Leon’s our friend – and I’m not going to keep you from spending time with a friend.”

That doesn’t answer her question, but she waits to see if he offers more. Fortunately, he does. “You do you, Sonia. Whatever you feel is right, I’m behind you.”

“Okay,” she says, and comes to grips with the fact that this is going to be a game day decision since he’s not being explicit and she’s not sure what she wants either. “Thanks, by the way.”

“For what?”

“For not being a mad, jealous boyfriend.”

“I’m plenty jealous, mate. But he’s a part of our lives and trying to keep you two apart because I’m an insecure prat isn’t a good long-term solution.”

“No, I suppose not.”

“You mind if I change the subject? I’m done talking about Leon for now.”

“Oh, yes!” because she’s kind of done too.

“You got plans for this weekend?”

“At the moment, no. What’s going on?”

“I wanted to come over by you, since you made the trip up to Hammerlocke for me.”

“And ruin my couch?”

“I mean, I’m not going to say no to that, but I wanted to go out with you. Catch dinner somewhere, check out some of the sights that Wedgehurst has to offer.”

“There aren’t many, I can assure you,” Sonia says self-deprecatingly. “But I’ll look and see if there are any shows or events going on.”

“When do you want me?”

That’s a loaded question; she decides to keep it clean. “How about Saturday afternoon? Around 1?”

“Should be fine. The Gym is closed on the weekends, but I’ll you know if something comes up.”

“You better. I’m not having a repeat of Saturday.”

“No, we won’t.”

Both of them are quiet for a few moments before Sonia finally says, “I should get to bed. Plenty to do tomorrow now that Hop’s gone.”

“Okay. I… will see you later.”

“Good night, Rai.”

“Night, Sonia.”

The silence after they hang up feels odd, like she just walked through Spinarak webs and now has them stuck to her face and hands and they won’t come off. But she’s worn out and Yamper needs to be let outside and she has a date with Raihan and she’ll face the third side of this ridiculous triangle whenever he deigns to show his face and yeah, she can’t get into bed fast enough to be done with all this.

But at least she’ll be ready for when he comes by. She has someone in her corner now.

* * *

So even after all that mental psych-up, she is _not_ ready when he comes by on Thursday. Not to say that she wasn’t expecting him at all, simply that the conversations in her head usually began on Friday, when he is more often freed from work. As such, she’s thrown off her game.

She is going about her business, starting to prepare for when the new Gym Challengers start to sign up and she’ll be getting notices about it. Every Challenger stops by her lab, no matter where in Galar they come from, and gets the updated pokédex app for their Rotom Phone. Some come early to see if she has any unclaimed eggs or baby Pokémon they can raise as a partner. However, it’s still another month before anyone should be coming by. And Hop is well into his field work, living it up if the pictures from his CamGram are anything to go by. He’s been sleeping in Pokémon Centers or on the Routes, and Sonia enjoys the private time; she has her favorite mix of music playing from Rotom and the speakers, and she can spend the time researching Alolan history and Pokémon along with tracking the Dynamax fluctuations in between the prep work for the Challengers.

She’s also been spending time looking up different festivals and events going on in the Wedgehurst region – few and infrequent – but it’s kind of fun trying to think of new things to do with Raihan. They’ve been talking every night, which has given her that New Relationship warmth in the pit of her stomach and, so far, she likes the way he makes her feel even when they’re a dozen cities away. They talk about nonsense and work stuff and Pokémon and anything that comes to mind because she finds herself trying to steal as many minutes of his time as possible, and she knows that he’s just as happy to take hers too.

So on that day, she momentarily pauses when she hears a sound not associated with her music. The front door? Someone knocking? Yamper’s at home today, so she doesn’t start barking at the door, which is often a sign that she’s got a visitor. She gets up from the kitchen table and her lunch to go answer it, fully expecting nothing but telling Rotom to pause regardless.

But he’s standing there, bright red against the blue sky, and it’s like his presence is a fist that threatens to knock her down.

“Hi, Sonia,” he starts, and his voice is softer than usual and his eyes are more like fool’s gold that’s been tarnished, lightened by the sun on his face while he holds his hat in his hands, and she can see that he looks uncomfortable as if he doesn’t like his own skin.

“Hi,” and the conversation with her mother comes rushing up to the front of her thoughts, and it’s like she’s on television with cue cards that are all mixed up because this wasn’t the time that she rehearsed, this wasn’t supposed to happen yet. For once, she doesn’t really know what to say.

“Can… can I come in?”

“Oh, uhm, yes,” and she steps inside and lets him pass by so she can shut the door. She has to say _something_ or the silence is going to suffocate them both. “I heard from Hop that you were going to stop by.”

“Yes, he was kind enough to carry the message to you. For some reason, I seem incapable of having a conversation with you on the phone.”

It’s funny, though – she’s not mad, which was what she thought she’d be. Instead, it’s more like she’s tired of this script that they keep reading over and over. She’s supposed to joke and wave it away. Instead she asks, “Why not?”

Now he’s surprised that she doesn’t play the game. “Because it seemed more important to talk in person.”

A gesture of ‘please continue’ from her. “About what?”

“I… was told, in a less than kind manner, that running off on you this past weekend was not polite.”

“Who blessed you with that information?”

“Gloria.”

Well, that’s an interesting tidbit. Sonia wonders if this is influenced by the pictures that Raihan posted. “I thought she was with Hop this weekend.”

“She was. When we ran into each other on Saturday after the political dinner, she said, to quote, ‘You are an arse and absolutely deserve what happens next’. Which sounded so ominous I thought I should let you know I wanted to make it up to you.”

“Then, what did you have in mind?” and she keeps her mind very blank because having expectations around this man just end in tears and ice and more pieces of herself getting lost in the dust.

“Would you like to come up to Wyndon this Saturday? There’s a jumble sale opening up to celebrate the end of winter, and I know you are fond of looking for Wishing Stars for the new trainers. Someone is always selling them.”

Oh, that actually sounds tempting. When the hell did he start knowing things about her? That kind of insight is going to make her want to say yes.

She instead drops the proverbial Ferroseed with Explosion between them, and she shakes her head. “Actually, I already made a date with Raihan for this weekend.”

She thought it would hurt a little more to say that. That it would be like getting a dirty knife pulled out of her stomach to keep an infection from settling in. Instead, this is more like throwing a Dynamax ball during a difficult battle, and the lightness that comes in your arms once you’ve made the perfect toss and you’re ready for the final round.

When she looks at his face, she can watch the emotions slide across his features. First it is surprise that bleeds a little into shock, colored with bewilderment as he tries to piece the words together into some semblance of meaning. She gives him the time to process this information, because if this was from her perspective, she’d have been scrambling to figure out what to say to him, too.

Finally, the words he manages to get out are, “So that’s what Gloria meant.”

She doesn’t play stupid, though it’s tempting. But she’s not about to rub it into his face because she still cares deeply about him even if she’s trying to change the direction of her affections. “Is there a problem?” she asks, giving him the chance to take the high road.

He immediately does, like she knew he would. “No! Gods no! Raihan’s an amazing person – best mate I’ve ever had. I wish the best for you two. I’m just, uhm, a little taken aback is all.”

“It was a little surprising to both of us, for what it’s worth. And I do appreciate you coming on down here to visit, but it would have saved you the trip to just call.”

He nods, still not quite hearing the words she’s saying. “Can… can I ask if this happened over the weekend?”

“Yes,” and she gives him an abridged version. “I went out dancing with Nessa and Raihan, and the two of us got to talking and we just decided to give it a whirl.”

“I see,” he says, soft as a breath, his eyes darting around as if he’s looking for something to give him a clue to this mystery he hasn’t completely figured out. “So Raihan’s got the monopoly on your time, then,” and while the tone is mild and even regretful from his side, the words are not harmless.

Suddenly she remembers what she told her mother how she’d react if he suddenly became possessive. _I think I’d be really, really angry. As if he were keeping me in constant reserve and couldn’t be bothered to act until I disappeared._ “Maybe if you didn’t treat my friendship like a convenience, I might put in a little more effort into giving you some of it.”

This catches him off-guard again, like she’s performing a Breaking Swipe on all his defenses. “Wait, what? I just wanted to visit because we don’t get a chance anymore-”

“On your terms!” she snarls. “Never decided together. I have to follow your lead, or I’m left behind. So guess what – I’m tired of it! I’m tired of being second fiddle to everything else in your life.”

“What are – Sonia, I-”

“I wanted to be in your life as a friend, as an equal, as someone who matters just as much as everything else you’ve got going on. But with the way I feel about you, I don’t think that I can do that anymore.”

He’s looking at her like she’s speaking another language and he can’t seem to process anything. “The way you feel? What are you – what’s this about?”

She makes the decision. It might ruin her friendship with him, it will almost certainly drive Raihan away, and it is likely to leave her just as alone as she was before – but she needs to do this. All that anger she didn’t want to feel earlier has come swelling up, muddy waters trying to drown and suffocate her the same, but if she doesn’t dive deep she’ll never reach the bottom and know how to drain this swampy mess of a soul.

She needs to open the door that she’s chained up because he needs to know what’s been keeping her trapped in one place for so long.

“You don’t get why I’m so furious, and it’s my fault so I’m going to tell you!” and she strides up to him, grabs the lapels of his jacket with one hand like she’s going to punch him with the other, and pulls him down until his wide eyes are level with hers.

She removes the chains from the door, very purposeful in how she undoes the locks, and tries to keep the walls from collapsing on top of her.

“I’m angry because my whole life has been spent watching you from a distance, hoping and praying that you would wake up one day with this magical realization and it’s never happened, so I’m telling you now!”

And her heart is pounding a tempo that could snap violin strings as she swings that door open to give him a glimpse of what’s been hidden for so long, and she mentally pleads _Raihan I’m sorry I’m so sorry please forgive me_.

“Leon Terrene, I love you like you can’t even imagine,” and it’s now, now it’s like she’s having an out-of-body experience, like she’s turned into a Drifloon and floating away from all the things her heart should feel, “I love you so much it hurts. I love you so much that every time you come and go all I want to do is grab onto you and beg you to stay. I have been in love with you since I was a little girl following you on the trials. And now I’m old and so fucking tired and I… I can’t do this anymore. I _refuse_ to do this. I refuse to love you anymore because _you don’t love me back_.”

She takes a breath and all the passion has seeped out of her like water from a rotting barrel, and she shuts the door, and lets the chains slide back into place before firmly locking them back up. Now she lets go of his jacket, and his eyes are wide like twin suns in the cloudless sky as he stares back at her. If he’d been dropped in a foreign city with no instructions on how to get home, he’d look less lost than he does right now.

“But now there’s someone who does, and I don’t think I can be around you by myself because I’m too afraid of finding out if I’m willing to throw that away for the barest, weakest chance to be with you. So I’m going to ask you to leave and not come back until I’m ready to be around you as a friend and not this vague, unnamed status that I’ve pinned too many hopes on for far too long.” She opens the lab door and makes a ‘you first’ gesture.

He takes two steps forward, gently takes her hand off the knob, and slams the door shut with all this strength. It shakes the whole lab. “No. No, I’m not leaving.”

“Yes you are. Now go.”

“No! That worked before but not this time!” and this might be the first time in their history that she’s ever seen him this mad as they face off against each other. “You cannot do this! You can’t tell me you’re in love with me, even though you’re dating Raihan, then kick me out!”

“I sure as hell can!”

“You can’t expect me to hear this and not want to talk to you!”

“I don’t want to talk to you! I don’t want to hear whatever you’re going to tell me right now!”

“Why not?!”

“Because there’s a piece of me that wants you to change my mind!” she yells. “Do you know how awful that feels? Do you know how much I hate the fact that a part of me is so relieved to have finally told you all this because there’s a chance that you’ll see the light and want me? Do you know how much I hate myself for wanting to throw away Raihan – our best friend, the person who supported both of us since we were kids – for a moment that might never come to pass? Do you?! Because I do! Because _I can’t stop hating myself_!” and she was so good about keeping it together, wasn’t she, and it’s talking about Raihan that breaks her because she cannot destroy him, she cannot turn into an ugly photocopy of Leon’s bad habits and destroy the one person in the world who she should be treating like a gift, like spun glass and gold made real, like a jewel that she was never meant to have.

The words are a waterfall of tears. “I want to love him back because he deserves it. He deserves so much more than me, someone better and kinder and more everything, and I would rather cut my own throat than hurt him like this. I won’t do it. I can’t do it. I want the chance to fall in love with him!”

She didn’t know that these words were true before she screamed them out but they are, they are the new reality she’s trying for but Leon’s insistence on more answers shakes her, and then she’s falling to the floor, back against the wall, landing on her ass so hard it jars the teeth in her mouth, and he immediately sinks right next to her with panic in his eyes. All she can do is wrap her arms around herself as she shivers and shakes, and her breath comes out in gasps that make her feel dizzy. “Please go. Please, Leon, I’m begging you. Please don’t be the reason why I hurt the person we’re both supposed to care about.”

He is so obviously torn between wanting to hold her, if only for comfort, and wanting to acquiesce. It keeps him trapped in place, mental vines and coils holding him down and unable to move. But when he reaches out to touch her face, perhaps to brush away tears or offer a moment of connection, Sonia flinches back, eyes wide and white, and he looks at his hand like it’s covered in poison and he’d never seen it before.

“Okay,” he whispers, using a voice that’s meant to soothe nightmares in children. “I’ll go. But I’ll come back.”

“No, Leon, please don’t….”

“When you’re ready, I want to talk again.”

_I just wanted us to be friends how did everything get to be like this how did we end up here_

She hears him open the door. “I’m sorry. I’ve made things like this, and I didn’t know.”

“Please, Leon, please go, please….”

And he does, shutting the door with a hand so soft she doesn’t even hear the lock click and she can’t even stand up because there’s nothing left inside of her and she doesn’t know how long she sits there when she just wants to lay down and die and then maybe she won’t have to worry about hurting Raihan and losing Leon’s friendship and everyone would be better off without her making such a big fucking mess of everything because that’s all she is, Sonia the Walking Disaster, and how on earth did she manage to fool Raihan into falling for her when he should have known by now that there’s nothing deeper to her than this wreckage of a human being.

_I’m done with this_ , she thinks to herself, but she doesn’t even know what she’s done with, and she thinks about how untenable this situation has become, and she can’t do this anymore and there’s absolutely zero chance that he’s going to listen and not come back until _she_ wants to talk to him, no he’ll be back to check on her because for all his flaws Leon has a heart that’s big as the moon and he just saw her sobbing on the floor and he’ll want to make sure she’s fine but she’s not fine she is as far from fine as a person can be and is that someone banging on the lab door, oh sweet Arceus no one should have to see Professor Magnolia like this but she can’t even stand up to lock the door.

“Sonia!”

And it’s Raihan, _Raihan!_ , and he immediately skids to a harsh stop in front of her, falling to his hands and knees as he touches her shoulder and gives her a soft shake and says, “Hey, Sonia, it’s me! Talk to me! Sonia!”

But she can’t make words, she just stares at him with the tears that won’t stop falling and her breath is still coming in short bursts and hiccups and her vision a little blurry, but she can focus on his eyes, his eyes that always look so calm and confident but are now filled with anxiety and terror and she doesn’t like that look because she envies the confidence he carries with such ease and doesn’t want to be the one to take it away.

He takes matters into his hands, picking her up, taking her outside, jumping onto Flygon and heading back to her house with her cradled to his chest, and he murmurs words for the sake of taking up space between them, “it’s okay… I’ve got you… you’re safe… just breathe… I’m here…” and he palms her keys from her jacket pocket, and he balances her on Flygon’s back while he opens the front door before picking her up and carrying her into the house, heading past the sitting room right to the stairs, and he takes a minute to figure out where the master bedroom is before laying her on the bed, throwing off her boots, and kneeling at her side to stroke her hair.

“Sonia,” he whispers. “Sonia, please, talk to me.”

Time is a concept she doesn’t understand, so she doesn’t know how long he’s been there before she finally manages to gasp out, “How… how did you know?”

“Leon called and said you needed me. So I came.”

There are no barriers in her soul anymore, and she says, “I told him I loved him.”

A sound he makes, like she just hit him in the stomach, suddenly clears her vision, makes her look at him, makes her see the pain floating in the sea of his eyes like debris from a shipwreck as his hand hovers above her hair.

“But I told him to leave… and I don’t want you to go.”

The look in his eyes doesn’t completely go away but she sees it soften. “I’m not going anywhere, sweetheart.”

Her arms are shaking, both from exhaustion and the remnants of the attack, but she lifts one up in an obvious request. He takes the hint very quickly, kicking off his shoes and laying on the bed next to her, holding her against his chest as he rubs her back.

“I’m so sorry,” and she cries as she says it over and over. He says nothing, just resting his chin on her head, and Sonia knows that this is the end, that she has no one to blame but herself, that she deserves the punishment of being alone and unloved and it’s fair and she will accept that when Raihan is ready to say it.

But for now, she will take his kindness.

A Rotom buzzes in the distance, and Raihan answers it. Mumbles from the other side that he understands, and his voice gets more heated as he discusses the situation. But the thing that she grabs on is the phrase, “Fine. I’ll be back in an hour,” and he hangs up.

_Ah, this is it._

“Sonia, I have to go. There’s a problem in Hammerlocke and the trainers need my help. But I promise – _I promise_ – that I will be back.”

She nods but her head is so fuzzy because it doesn’t sound like he’s breaking up with her and maybe she’s just projecting but he is promising to come back and he knows she doesn’t like promises so it might be real.

One final kiss on her forehead, and he disappears and Sonia is alone again, and she is so over herself that she hopes she falls asleep and doesn’t wake up. But that’s not how this works, and instead she falls asleep for so long that day turns to twilight and Yamper jumps on her and starts licking her face in concern.

“Okay, girl, I’m awake,” she whispers, her voice a roughened mess. She manages to get to her feet, and is kind of pleased with her success, and then she’s walking wobbly to the stairs and that’s good too, and down the stairs and into the kitchen and pulling out Yamper’s food bowl while she reheats some leftover curry and there! She managed to do a real Grown Up thing and take care of her Pokémon.

She sits down on the floor and pets Yamper while the pup happily engorges herself. “I made a big mess of things, girl. So big I don’t know if I can ever fix it.” She pauses to think. “Sometimes I wish I could go running off into the Wild Area like I used to when I was on the Challenge. It was so simple then, wasn’t it? Just us and the team….”

The inspiration hits her so hard that her balance is thrown off and she nearly plops a hand into Yamper’s bowl trying to catch herself. But this answer lightens her heart and might be the only way she can keep her sanity.

“Would you like that, girl? Would you like the chance to get out and run around again?”

A yip, which could honestly mean anything, and she goes back to eating. Which is making Sonia hungry, so she gets up to warm up a plate for herself and is just sitting down to eat when the doorbell rings.

Her heart lifts a little before she squashes the feeling, so used to being disappointed that this automatic dousing of warmth takes no thought. But when she opens the door and Raihan is standing there, looking wind-tousled and still wearing his airshield glasses, she can’t help but gape at him.

“You came back.”

“I said I would.”

And she tackles him, her arms going around his waist, and he feels so warm and real and _he came back_ that she could cry from the relief. He lets her hold him, patient as a mountain, before he pulls back just enough for them to look at each other, and he leans down for a sweet, soft kiss.

She breaks it to say, “You came back,” and yeah, she’s turned into a Pokémon and can only say one phrase, but the fact that he’s here is astounding for more than one reason.

Now he chuckles softly. “Yeah, I did. Can me and Flygon come in?”

“Oh, yes!” and both man and dragon make their way inside. On Flygon’s back is a saddle and a bag, both of which Raihan carefully removes after he packs away his glasses.

“Now behave yourself,” he warns Flygon, who promptly lumbers into the kitchen and looks at Yamper’s empty food bowl. He gives a pitiful cry that Sonia understands clearly, and she immediately puts her plate from the table to the floor. Flygon butts his head against her chest before settling down for dinner.

Now Raihan rolls his eyes. “That’s not behaving yourself, you self-indulgent critter.”

Flygon ignores him and eats with gusto, and Sonia can only laugh because Pokémon always make her feel better. “How about I warm up a plate for both of us?”

“Sure.” And while she putters around, this time serving up a little bit of roast with vegetables, he sits down and carefully asks, “How do you feel?”

It takes her a few moments of deciding whether to be honest before saying, “Better than I was when you found me.” But when she looks at his shoulders, and the way he’s leaning on the table, she realizes that she’s not the only one who might need care. “How about you?”

“It scared the shite outta me, seeing you on the floor like that,” and she can see the tension in his jaw and hear the way it fills his voice. “I’ve never felt so goddamn helpless in my life, not even when the Dynamax nutters were running around. I thought I’d have to take you to a hospital, that you were going to die breathing a hundred times a second.”

She moves without hesitation and puts her arms around his shoulders from behind. For a moment, the thought goes through her head _you are the reason why he felt like that_ and she thinks that she doesn’t deserve to be the one giving him comfort, but he puts his hands over hers and there’s no way she can pull away now. She rests her cheek against the top of his head, to the side of a ponytail, and breathes in the scent of his shampoo. It’s spicy but warm and reminds her of last Sunday when she carried this scent back to her home and here he is now.

“I’m okay now,” she reassures him as much as herself. She fetches the now-warm plates along with silverware; he has a water bottle and she pours herself some Moo-Moo milk. They sit down and eat a bit before she says, “Can I talk to you about something?”

“Every time you say that phrase, it makes me shrink all the way up.” At her puzzled expression, he shakes his head. “Nevermind. What’s on your mind?”

“I want to take a break from the lab and go back to field work.”

He frowns, but it’s an expression of confusion and not anger. “Why?”

“Because I am so worn out and such an absolute mess that I think I need time to balance myself. And I think that if I can get away from some of those responsibilities for a little while, it might help me get things back in place.”

“Are you running away from me and Leon?”

Well, dragons don’t beat around the bush, do they? _Mostly they set them on fire._ “Not from you,” and she means it.

“Good. Because I will chase your pale, scrawny arse all over the Wild Area if you try.”

He says it somewhat threateningly, but it mostly makes her feel better. They finish their meal in silence before Sonia decides to clarify her thought process for him.

“When Leon came by, I told him we were dating – like I said I would. But things snowballed from there and I told him I was in love with him,” and now shame colors her cheeks and her words even though this isn’t news. She needs to explain herself, though. “I wanted to be honest with him because letting these feelings sit unresolved just made things worse over the years. And I wanted him to understand why I couldn’t be around him by myself. Because I do still love him, and a part of me still reaches in his direction even though you’re the one I’m with.”

He looks down at his water, swirling it in his hand.

“Did he tell you what else I told him?”

“No. Just called me and said that you two were talking when suddenly you started having a crisis and needed my help right away. I came as fast as I could, but it still took over a half-hour to get to Wedgehurst with Flygon going at top speed. Sorry it took so long.”

She shrugs; it’s all lost time now. “I told him I hated myself because of all that, and then I begged him to leave so neither of us could hurt you. You mean that much to me, you know; I would rather die than cheat on you.”

This revelation from her side sets him off-balance, and he puts his bottle down because he’s shaking too. “Sonia, no-”

“I meant it. I’d cut a line from here to here,” and she draws an invisible line between her ears, “before doing that.”

He pushes the chair back and kneels in front of hers, taking one of her hands in his and resting the other against her cheek. “Hey, hey, don’t say stuff like that! Do you understand me? I _never_ want to hear you say you’d hurt yourself again. Not for me, not for anyone.”

It feels like she’s being scolded like a child, which makes her want to be petulant, but thank the gods that her rational brain moves first to accept the fact that he’s saying it because he really doesn’t want to hear her say those words, those thoughts. So she nods and says, “I understand. I won’t.”

He doesn’t totally believe her, given the way his eyes dart up and down as if looking for marks or hidden weapons, but he eventually says, “I brought clothes to spend the night, but I’ve got to leave early in the morning. I was… afraid of leaving you alone for too long.”

“Thank you.”

They stay in place for a little bit longer, and she closes her eyes and rubs her cheek into his palm. He feels so real that it gives the last six hours of her life a mistiness that is more hallucination than anything.

Finally, he suggests they get ready for bed.

“Let me clean up first.”

He is keeping such a close eye on her while she does dishes and wipes down the table that he’s going to burn holes through her skin. She’s halfway convinced that he’s going to take the steak knives from her hand so she doesn’t have to wash them, but he just stands behind her with his arms around her waist. When she’s done, he instructs the Pokémon to stay downstairs and follows Sonia up with his bag over his shoulder. They wash up concurrently, almost domestic in the routine, and Sonia picks her warmest pyjamas while he comes in wearing an old tee with sweatpants. His hair is down again, and if she hadn’t had such a shitty day, she’d have enjoyed seeing him so casual again. They hold each other under the blankets, curled on Gran’s old double bed that’s since become hers, and both know the other is awake even after the lights have been out for an hour.

“Hey, Raihan?”

“Yeah?”

“I really want to do it. I want to spend time in the Wild Area being a trainer again. Being a Pokémon researcher. Being the person I want to be so I can be the person you deserve.”

He’s quiet for a bit before saying, “On one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“I come with you.”

Now she looks up at him even though all she sees are shadows. “No, I can’t take you away from Hammerlocke for so long.”

“You can on weekends. We’ll be busy for weeks straight when the Challenge starts, but I have time now. I get it that you want to leave a lot of your anxieties behind, but I refuse to be left behind when you’re hurting. Yeah, we have a lot of issues to work through, but we do it together.”

Her turn to muse on his words. She hadn’t considered it before; not because she didn’t want him around, but because she just assumed she’d be by herself. Initially it made sense for her to be alone with her thoughts, to let them jostle in her brain and maybe rattle into some semblance of order so that when she returns she can show off that order and use it to build herself back up.

But adding Raihan into the picture, even for a few days, makes the concept of this journey seem a little brighter, a little easier.

_I’m not alone_.

She tilts her head up and kisses him, and now it feels so easy and natural and right. She presses the a wordless ‘thank you’ into his lips, ‘you mean so much to me’ against his cheek, ‘I want to keep you’ at the junction of neck and ear. The language of lovers passes between them, sensual and soft, and even though Sonia’s starting to feel something Raihan doesn’t let his or her hands wander too far.

“Get some rest, Sonia. I’m not going anywhere.”

And she does, and he stays.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes (03/17/2020): You may have noticed that it's not Wednesday. I'm going to try and slowly move 'A Choice' updates to every other Monday, staggered against 'Your World' updates. Rather than have two chapters up in one week, I'll transition between the two stories so people don't get overwhelmed.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who reads this story! It really gets my Writer's Blood flowing to know that you enjoy it. You guys are wonderful, and I do appreciate your thoughts and comments.


	7. Traveling, Searching

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Leon is no longer the Champion and things are changing for the younger generation, perhaps the future will shift in a direction that Sonia has never expected. When she decides to accept an invitation to go out dancing with Nessa and Raihan, she finds out that there may be more than one dream and more than one kind of happiness.
> 
> Chapter 7 (EXPLICIT): She jumps out of bed and nearly runs to the bathroom, Raihan’s voice chasing after her. Without much thought, she turns on the shower – an old tub-and-shower combo that takes forever to warm up – before throwing off her clothes and stepping underneath. The water is still freezing, and she hisses at the ice against her skin. Then she buries her head and torso beneath the water, wanting the cold to kill all the sensations inside, all those remnant feelings from yesterday’s confession and self-destructive wishes.
> 
> Wash it away, wash it all away. Take yesterday down the drain so I can go into today as clear and clean as possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No specific musical accompaniment
> 
> Many thanks to DezyPhresh for her beta reading efforts. I'm glad you liked ~all~ of it! 😉
> 
> As per previous chapter warnings, there happens to be some EXPLICIT content. Please keep this mind as you read, particularly for any younger readers.

Sonia considers herself blessed with the ability to not have nightmares after watching horror movies or other gruesome forms of entertainment. She has read some graphic news articles detailing violence, and some fiction stories that she probably shouldn’t have read in the first place. It’s not like she does it a lot, especially since horror has no interest for her after the events of Darkest Day, but it means that, generally speaking, she doesn’t carry the problems from daytime into her sleep. Which is good, because sleeping is the only time she can get away from it all.

_She doesn’t know where she is or how she got here but she knows that something is trying to keep her from getting out and going home and she’s trying to escape but it’s like she’s crawling no matter how fast she runs and they’re coming up behind her and fear makes her try to turn down a blind corner and she’s sure she’s safe when someone grabs her arm hard enough to bruise and another grabs her hair and she’s on her knees on the ground as the voices tell her she can’t leave she has to stay here she belongs to them and she can’t speak because she has no voice and in her mind she’s begging for help because she needs to get to him and she needs him but they’re keeping her apart when all she wants is –_

And Raihan’s Rotom goes off at 5:30AM playing some hip-hop song she’s not familiar with, and she wakes up with it, the dream so sharp in her head that she can only lay there, staring at the ceiling and trying to control her heart rate. She can still feel the hands on her arms, pinning them behind her back, and the fist holding her hair so tightly that individual strands are pulled out. It leaves her shivery and cold despite the warmth of two bodies and a feather-down comforter, and she sits up because there is no way in hell she can go back to sleep now.

He groans and taps Rotom to snooze it for another ten minutes, but when he rolls over to touch her, he sees she’s awake. “Sonia? You okay?”

“Bad dream.”

He immediately sits up too, and when he touches her skin he hisses. “You’re freezing! Get back under here,” pulling her into his arms and tucking the blanket to her chin. “What happened?”

The thought of talking about it makes her wince, and she doesn’t even know how to describe the feeling. She settles for vagaries. “Lost. Scared. I was running. They grabbed me, held me down. I…,” and she doesn’t want to talk about it anymore, doesn’t like that feeling of being trapped by so many people and yeah she gets the metaphor of being in a situation that she’s not happy with _guess what the situation is_ but it’s got enough sexual overtones that it leaves her feeling very, very dirty.

She jumps out of bed and nearly runs to the bathroom, Raihan’s voice chasing after her. Without much thought, she turns on the shower – an old tub-and-shower combo that takes forever to warm up – before throwing off her clothes and stepping underneath. The water is still freezing, and she hisses at the ice against her skin. Then she buries her head and torso beneath the water, wanting the cold to kill all the sensations inside, all those remnant feelings from yesterday’s confession and self-destructive wishes.

_Wash it away, wash it all away. Take yesterday down the drain so I can go into today as clear and clean as possible._

The water gets warmer, the dream fades away, and she doesn’t hate herself quite as much anymore.

“Sonia?”

She pulls the curtain to the side, and he looks lost and alone, and she wants to share herself with him again. “Water’s hot now. Come on in.”

When he steps in, she immediately switches spots so he can get all of the spray. Since the tub is so small and he’s so damn tall – literally, he can actually see over the curtain rod – she can’t really get any water past his body, but that’s fine, he’s so warm that just leaning against his back keeps away the cold.

“You are so ridiculous,” he mutters before putting her in front of him, and she gets a bit running down her back as he takes the rest, and it’s such a funny dance trying to figure out how to shower together in such a small space but she only needs conditioner and a rinse today and he’s pretty quick too so it’s not that difficult, and really she gets plenty of excuses to lean against his wet, naked body.

But then he gets the bar of soap into his hands and even though Sonia’s already cleaned up, he feels particularly motivated to double check her work. His hands cover her back and carefully lather her neck before running down and one set of fingers slide between her legs while the other travels to her breast and it makes her jump and gasp in equal parts. She catches herself against the wall as he keeps rubbing his fingers against her, the soap helping him slide so easily against her skin that she starts climbing much faster than usual.

He glances over the curtain. “Gotta leave in fifteen minutes. Better get a move on,” and he has the nerve to pull his hands back and rinse off the soap and oh, Sonia is not happy about this.

“You do _not_ just start a fight you can’t finish,” she turns around and growls at him.

“Think I did,” he smirks, but it disappears really quickly when she grabs him with her own soapy hand – because of course he’s turned on as all get-out – moving up and down in a measured rhythm that is guaranteed to drive him into madness. He grabs her shoulders and starts kissing her beneath the shower, and it’s a little bit of work trying to breathe around the spray, but she’s got him on the ropes and soon he can’t even kiss properly and can only support himself against her as he bucks into her hand, and when she thinks he’s really close… she promptly lets go. The groan he lets out is so satisfying, and yeah she likes that look of vexation and desire flashing across his face so she smirks right back at him and says, “Ten minutes now,” and turns off the water and hops out.

He’s actually speechless for a few seconds, licking the droplets off his lips, before saying, “You’re going to be _walking_ through the Wild Area after I’m done with you.”

“Promises, promises,” she teases back, getting him a towel, and then they’re all business, getting dressed and heading downstairs to feed the Pokémon and she has some yogurt that he gladly takes to stave off hunger for a bit and too soon, far too soon he has to leave.

“Thank you for coming back,” she says. “Thank you for everything.”

He strokes her cheek, then leans down and kisses her goodbye. “You’re worth it, sweetheart,” he says, then saddles up Flygon and pops on his glasses. “Call me when you’ve got details figured out for your travels, and I’ll plan accordingly.”

“Sounds good. See you later.”

“You too,” and without drawing it out, he gives her a wave and then the two are heading back to Hammerlocke as Yamper runs in circles, barking at the retreating figures.

She owes him. Yeah, they’re in a relationship now and you don’t calculate its value based on balancing every single action, but she really owes him something after what happened yesterday. She’ll muse on the idea while she makes plans.

At first blush, getting Hop to cover while she’s gone is the best choice, but he’s got his field work and Sonia refuses to call him unless it’s a true life-or-death emergency. But she does know someone who, while they don’t have a dearth of free time, are certainly eager to learn and have spent plenty of time in the lab just for the funsies.

It’s still hellaciously early, but Sonia sends the text anyway. The worst that can happen is she says no.

* * *

She doesn’t say no. In fact, Gloria stops on by that very afternoon with her Cinderace and Flapple in tow.

“So let me make sure I’ve got this straight: the eggs need to have their temperatures monitored daily, so if I come in the morning and record it, that should be plenty. I don’t have to sit here all day – unless I want to, of course.”

“Yes. When one is about to hatch, the alarms will sound and you take it out of the incubators. The Pokémon should emerge by its own hand within two hours. Fortunately, I think all the eggs here have at least another two to three weeks to go so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Gloria nods. “Meanwhile, you’ll be carrying the Power Level tracker. But if there’s anything that looks unusual from my end, I should send you a message and you’ll go check it out.”

“Right. I can see stuff happening close by, but you can get a larger picture.”

The pretense she’s using as an explanation for why she’s going missing is to check out the Dynamax fluctuations in-person. It’s a great excuse, though not entirely untrue. Before Hop left, she had warned him to stay out of the Wild Area as much as possible. Now, she’s going to go and check it out in person; risking life and limb honestly sounds better than dealing with the whole emotional cluster-fuck in her head right now. Fortunately for her, Gloria was available on a literal last-minute basis.

“Anything requests from me to return back to the lab will be treated as emergencies.”

“Yes, so I’m begging you to _not_ call with that request unless it is truly an emergency.”

“I think we can get by for a week or two without you.”

“I know you can. It’s why I called you.”

“I’m really flattered,” she grins, scratching Cinderace’s ears as it sits and stares at the Pokémon eggs. “But why didn’t you call Hop?”

“He’s in the middle of his project. I can’t pull him from that.”

“I’d make a smarmy comment about pulling me away from Champion work except that it’s going to be a lot of fun pretending to be you and I’m getting a little cabin fever from being me. And I can manage a lot of that stuff from anywhere in the country.”

“You won’t need to be here 24/7 so that should help. And I think my bribe is going to be worth your while.”

“Yeah, about that… can you finally tell me what it is?”

“Of course,” and Sonia pulls a pokéball out of a drawer in her desk. She gives it to Gloria. “Let me know if you like it.”

Slightly bemused, she releases the Pokémon, then lets out a shriek of delight.

“It’s a Snivy!” she says, then picks up the little Pokémon with all the joy of a new parent.

“Yes. I gave Hop a Tepig as a ‘keep-working-hard’ present-”

“He almost blew a gasket when he called and told me.”

“-and I’ve got the Oshawott saved for his graduation party. Don’t tell him that.”

“Of course not! When did you get these adorable little guys?” and now she’s tickling it under the chin and Snivy is now smitten with its new owner. Flapple flies up and the two of them rub snouts and trill at each other.

“I sent a request to the USoPM, trading a Scorbunny, Grookey, and Sobble to their school in return for these,” she says, giving the Snivy a tiny pat on the head before pulling back. “So, are you ready to be me for a while?”

“I’m super pumped,” and she throws her fist into the air with equal energy. “We’re gonna do our best!”

Sonia laughs. “I have no doubts about that. Just remember – I’m using Gran’s old Rotom so if you’re trying to get a hold of me, use her number. She gave it to all of four people in her life, so I don’t think anyone else can call,” though Sonia did program Raihan’s number into it, so now there’s a whopping _five_ numbers in the address book. “Here’s _my_ Rotom. Feel free to answer it obnoxiously for anyone – except maybe Kukui, though I think he would call the lab number.”

“Got it. And don’t tell anyone where you are or what you’re up to. In fact, the more ridiculous the excuse, the better.”

“Absolutely. I will text you every day at 9AM and 9PM. If I’m late by more than 5 minutes, give me a call. If I don’t answer, assume the worst and come looking for me. I’ll have a tracker on my backpack and Gran’s Rotom.”

“This is very hush-hush secretive, isn’t it? A bit of a spy movie feel to the whole thing.”

“A bit, yes. But I guarantee that there will be at least one person who will demand to know where I am. Put your Champion foot down and refuse to comply.”

Gloria grins, all spice and life and stubborn energy. “I can definitely do that.”

And now Sonia gives her a huge hug, careful not to squish the Snivy but trying to emanate the gratitude she feels deep down in her soul into her young friend. “You’re a treasure. Thank you again for doing this.”

“From what I’ve heard through the feeds and streams, there’s been some drama between you, Leon, and Raihan. I’d run away from those problems, too, if I could.”

Sonia better clear this up before a misunderstanding happens. “If Raihan does come looking for me, you can tell him I’ve left already. No one else, though.”

Now Gloria raises an eyebrow and gives her a knowing little smile. “Oh? So he’s allowed to know? Does this have anything to do with you showing off a new look on Sunday?”

She hesitates for a split second but caves in. “We’re dating now.”

“OOH!” and now it’s a full-blown grin. “Caught yourself a “wild Raihan”, then? Did you make good use of his pokéballs? Repurpose one of the Escape Ropes?”

“Love, whatever you and Hop do in your free time is your business, but please spare me the details.”

“Every day I’m going to text you a new innuendo. I have so many, I just can’t wait! Oh here’s one – lads like to say that putting fresh ‘nut milk on your face is good for your skin.”

“GLORIA!”

She bursts into raucous laughter, which of course makes Sonia start to giggle, because it’s fine to be ridiculous and bawdy and over-the-top even one of them is a PhD and the other is the region’s Champion. Finally, their laughter fades down enough that Gloria is only grinning when she says, “I kept you plenty long. Best be on your way. Who knows if someone might come a-calling, right?”

Sonia takes the hint. She packs her backpack with her old tent, cookware, a parka, and some new ingredients for curry-making. She sets them on Gloria’s borrowed bike… and has to get used to the feeling of six pokéballs on her hips again as she takes a seat.

 _Just like the old days._ But her outfit is much sportier than it was twenty years ago, with her hair tucked in a bun under a gray scally cap to hide the color. She’s got a yellow and purple Electric-style tracksuit pants and jacket with a simple gray tee underneath. Hidden beneath the cuff is her Dynamax Band, with the strap recently exchanged so it looks brand new and fits like a glove. She looks nothing like Professor Magnolia, and more like a Sonia that decided to follow through on her dreams of being a Pokémon Master.

“Thanks, Gloria. When I come back, I’ll pay you well.”

“We can talk about that when you come back. Good luck, Sonia. I hope you find what you’re looking for,” Gloria says, waving goodbye from the stoop.

“Me too,” and before she can think too much about this, Sonia hops on the bike and rides off down the road toward the train station. She buys a ticket, enjoys an uneventful train ride, and gets off at the Meetup Spot. She immediately books it north… and into the Wild Area.

She places her old Gym Challenger badge on her jacket, all eight facets shining together, and feels her confidence rise as she rides down towards the Rolling Fields. When a Vespiqueen flies at her bike, she immediately falls into a battle stance and pulls her favorite Pokémon out.

“Come out, Yamper!”

She hops up and down for a moment before realizing they’re in a battle. Then she lets out a growl that Sonia orders to become a Thunderbolt. The difference in level is far and away in Yamper’s favor, and the Vespiqueen faints before it can get close enough to attack.

“Good job, my girl,” Sonia coos. “I think we’re going to be just fine.”

* * *

She texts Raihan when she gets a moment to breathe, away from some of the foraging Pokémon and in a place of safety. She decides against pitching the tent just yet and settles for glancing back and forth a dozen times before being certain that she’s not anywhere close to other trainers.

Then she pulls the collar of her tee down, so her cleavage is very visible, and takes a picture of it without her face. A few more attempts to get a just-right shot before she’s satisfied with the quality. Even better, there’s a little bit of the fence in the background.

She attaches the best picture to a text, with the phrase **‘In the Wild Area’** underneath, before sending it off. With a racing heart, she puts her phone away and jumps back on the bike. Ten minutes pass before the old Rotom lets out a very polite beep. She pulls it out when she’s somewhere protected again.

Raihan: **Sonia? Is this a new number?**

Raihan: **I swear to Arceus I’m going to pound that flirty little arse into the ground when I find you**

Sonia: **Best come find me, then. Ta ta!**

And the rest of the day progresses with her going to different places in the Wild Area, fighting a Pokémon, and taking a celebratory picture. It’s driving him absolutely mad, if his responses are anything to go by, which just gives her more of a high. By the time it’s late enough for dinner and bedtime, she’s up to ten pictures. Two minutes ago, she sent him a pic of her pelvis, her clothes pulled apart enough to show her hip bones but nothing more. To help, there’s a little bit of Lake Axewell and part of the nearest cliff in the background. It’s a very secluded area on the Eye, one that she had found on her travels all those years ago, and she is pleased to see it available again. He responds quickly.

Raihan: **Leaving Hammerlocke in a half-hour**

Raihan: **Pitch your tent, feed your Pokémon, then put them away**

Raihan: **‘Cause when I get there I’m making you scream the rest of the night**

Raihan: **And I don’t care who’s around so you better pick someplace private**

She’s never done something like this before, and it’s so incredibly thrilling to be the flirt _and_ the focus. But she needs to calm down because it’s getting late and some of her Pokémon have to recharge (hah!) after all the work they’ve been doing.

 _Guess I better follow his suggestion,_ she thinks. She pitches the tent and invites everyone to come out and play.

It has literally been years since she’s seen some of these friends. Toxtricity comes out to happily chase a ball with Yamper, while Dracozolt hangs around the tent flap hoping to find a pot of curry hidden inside. Lapras and Shiftry are having some kind of conversation, given the trills and growls that sound friendly, and Gardevoir appears to be dancing to some unheard music.

Sonia sets up the large frying pot and begins gathering berries to toss with the cream. Yeah, today’s meal will be a treat. It’s been too long since they’ve done this, and all of them deserve something sweet. As she fans the fire, with that _just right_ sense of the heat, she can hear the interest of Lapras and Gardevoir as they hover around. Stirring the pot, with its associated clinking, has garnered both Toxtricity and Yamper’s attention, and by the time she’s put all of her heart into the meal all six are sitting impatiently and waiting to eat.

The meal is divine, and the cheerful sounds of her Pokémon eating and “talking” remind Sonia why she did this in the first place. Not because she needed to have powerful Pokémon – though she certainly tried, given her desire to become the Champion – but to have this bond and camaraderie with some of the most important people in her life.

“Hey guys,” she says, and it’s so weird that the words get caught in her chest even though the Pokémon don’t completely understand her. “I’m sorry I was gone for so long. I hope… I hope you don’t think that I was disappointed in you after we lost. I was always really proud of you. Really proud for going as far as we did. The Semi-Finalist Gym Challenger of ’00 – that was all you.”

The Pokémon swarm her, as best they can at least, causing her to tumble gracelessly to the ground. But their energy is so happy and infectious that Sonia can’t help but smile and laugh and offer them the loving touches she should have been giving them the past twenty years.

She can’t fix the past, but she can fix her present. That’s what these next two weeks are about, anyway.

* * *

She sends a text to Gloria just after feeding and putting away her Pokémon, warning her that there won’t be a text at 9PM and may not be one at 9AM. Gloria’s response makes her blush; how in the world did she come up with another innuendo so quickly?!

Raihan shows up almost two hours after his last text message, which means he probably spent at least an hour searching for her. By the time he lands on Axew’s Eye, he is so out of sorts that when he sees her he jumps off Flygon, immediately puts the Pokémon back in its ball as he strides toward her with blue fire in his eyes, and drops literally everything – his backpack, sleeping bag, flight glasses, _all six pokéballs on a belt_ – on the ground without a second thought. She stands up to greet him and gets no words out before he’s on top of her, mouth sealed against hers, arms going around her waist, pushing her backwards until she’s pressed between the nearest tree and his immovable form. He keeps kissing her as his hands undo the zipper on her tracksuit jacket, pushing up her tee and bra, and now his fingers grab her nipples and she screams into his mouth because he’s not being mean but he definitely means business. He plays with her, drawing out the sounds over and over, and her hands scramble around for something to grab but she just digs her nails into the bark because he won’t let her move her arms.

He brings his lips against her ear. “I wanted to finger you until you passed out, but I think you’d like that too much.”

She cannot help the tremor that runs from neck to knees. “Probably,” she barely manages to quip back.

“You have been a very saucy minx today. Dare I ask what got into you? Or is it more accurate to ask, what you’re hoping gets into you?”

She lets out a squeak as he adjusts his grip, taking a few seconds to refocus her eyes, before answering. “I just wanted you. From this morning. Wanted to tease you back.”

“Mmmm, good answer,” and he gives her earlobe a tiny nibble. “Too bad I’m not in a generous mood. Get into the tent. I promised a lot of things, and I intend to deliver on them.”

He gives her a final little squeeze before setting her free, and then goes to grab his things while she hightails it into the tent. He follows only a few seconds later, zipping it closed, then looks her up and down. “Don’t think I mentioned clothes being a requirement.”

Good Giratina, he is going full balls-to-the-wall on this. She immediately pulls her tee off and undoes the bra (one of her cheap ones) while he’s watching, and his gaze is less adoring and far more dominating this time around, which adds a peppery thrill to the whole thing. There’s not enough space to stand, so she’s sitting down while she kicks off her trainers and wiggles her bottoms and panties off her hips before his patience is completely shot.

“Good enough,” and he grabs her and flips her right onto her stomach, lifting her hips up into the air. She doesn’t get a warning before she feels his mouth right against her lips, and then he’s eating her like it’s going out of style. She doesn’t try to hold back any gasps or groans, because she knows better now, and instead she lets him lead this very energetic dance.

But while she’s enjoying the sensations, letting them lift her up and down like waves on a lake, she suddenly feels him pull back for just a moment before he takes her from behind, and she lets out a shriek that lasts for a good ten seconds while he sits inside of her.

“That’s it, sweetheart,” he purrs at her, “scream for me.”

She does. A lot. He is relentless in his attention, precise in his motions, a perfectly crafted machine created to drive her to insanity. There is nothing in the world left but him and her and the places where they connect, and she can’t get away because he has a grip on her so tight that there might be marks come the morning, but even though he’s deep enough to be on the cusp of painful, she lets him do this because she wants him to want her.

Because if she can drown in Raihan, then maybe she can push back everything that doesn’t matter and everyone who isn’t him to the farthest reaches of her thoughts.

So she begs him to fuck her, to ruin her, to make her into what he wants, and he complies, and she thinks that maybe she’s ruining him too because he’s going so hard that he can’t even talk, his breath coming out in puffs and grunts as he keeps moving until finally he lets out a final snarl, grabbing her arms and pulling her so that her back arches up as flashes of light color her vision and their voices blend into the evening air like fire and smoke.

And when he’s done, he doesn’t fall out. Rather, he holds her against him so they’re both kneeling upright, and Sonia wraps her arms around his neck to stay in place. When she looks up, he bends down and kisses her just as his hands go back to her breasts.

“I’ve got a lot of ideas for tonight,” he whispers against her lips. “Ready to make some more noise?”

“If I say no?”

A smile. “You could, but you won’t.”

No, she won’t. And they do.

* * *

“Hey, Sonia? Why is your alarm going off?”

“Ngh, sorry. I just have to text Gloria. Give me a second.”

“Everything all right?”

“It’s fine. I promised her I’d keep in touch twice a day so she’d know if something was wrong.”

“You’re with me right now.”

“But not all week. Having someone keeping tabs on me is good for my safety.”

“Fair enough.”

“All right, done!”

“Since we’re up, what’s the plan, Miss Clever Clogs?”

“Really? Going back to that nickname now, of all times?”

“I could make more up, if you so prefer.”

“No, please, that’s not necessary.”

“How about Little Lady Heartbreaker?”

“Uhm, no.”

“That Spunky Girl?”

“Blessed Dialgia, that’s an old one! Keep it in the past.”

“Miss Firecracker?”

“I take it back. Miss Clever Clogs is just fine. Even if I’m not wearing clogs.”

“I will say, though, I noticed you were wearing a new pair of trainers. They look familiar.”

“They should. You bought them.”

“I’ve got great taste. But the tracksuit is new. You didn’t wear Electric-style before, did you?”

“Wasn’t ever comfortable showing that off before.”

“I like it.”

“Thanks. I wanted to look like not-Professor Magnolia, mostly. But it feels fun to label myself as an Electric-type trainer. I get why you and the other Gym Leaders are always wearing your uniforms.”

“Maybe you can run your own Gym one day.”

“Hah! Not in a million years. I’d be wretched at doing your job.”

“I’d help if you needed it.”

“You have your own work. And I have mine to keep plenty busy. And yes, getting back on topic, here are my thoughts on the upcoming two weeks. So you remember the Dynamax issue with the two men, right? The ones who creates the ruckus five years ago?”

“Those wankers with the godawful hair? Yeah, what about ‘em?”

“My concern is that with the increase in power levels after Eternatus’ release, we may have events like that happening more frequently.”

“Not seen anything like that in Hammerlocke, for what it’s worth.”

“I’m more concerned with the possibility of them popping up along the routes or in cities but not the stadiums. Places where people can be hurt because it’s unexpected. But before I can create any probability statistics, I need to know what’s happening here in the Wild Area, where there are so many more Dynamax dens. So I’m going to travel to all the different dens so I can track their levels on a daily basis. I’m hoping to see a pattern emerge, though in the 24 hours I’ve been here so far there’s nothing obvious.”

“And Gloria is helping?”

“She’s got a bird’s eye view of the situation. I gave her the keys to the lab so she can tell me if something is happening and I’m too far away to see it.”

“She’s a good kid. Great Champion, too – don’t want to sell her short.”

“I owe her big for this. In any case, that’s the overall plan. I imagine as things become more clear – or even, less clear – I may make some changes. Until then, I’ll just be biking back and forth through the Wild Area to cover as much as I can. I don’t expect I’ll get them all, but I do want to see what I can do.”

“Sounds delightful. Planning on doing a spot of battling yourself?”

“I am. It’s good practice so if there’s a problem in the future, the Professor of Galar should be capable of protecting herself.”

“Good. I won’t always be here to help.”

“Of course not. Though I do sometimes wish I’d been as strong as you and Leon. A lot of times, really.”

“Don’t. You’ve got better skills than both of us put together.”

“Yeah, pull the other one.”

“You memorized the Pokédex and every Pokémon’s type. You _knew_ things, helped us along when we were stuck.”

“I’m good with books and words, not so great at putting it into practice. Hence the whole ‘Semi-Finalist’ aspect. Not even offered an apprenticeship after losing. But that’s all in the past, and we’re here now and should probably get going in a bit.”

“Hey, Sonia?”

“Yes?”

“For what it’s worth, I think… I think you’re pretty brilliant. Now _and_ then.”

“Thanks, Rai. It’s worth quite a lot, actually.”

No words for a few moments, quietly speaking in other tongues.

“You know, we haven’t made breakfast yet.”

“We haven’t even put on _clothes_ yet. Jumping the gun, aren’t you?”

“What I mean is, since we’ve wasted away this much of the morning, how about wasting a little more?”

“You have an idea?”

“Read my mind, sweetheart.”

“That’s not your mind. An extension of your ego, perhaps. Likes to be stroked too.”

“Mmm, like that!”

“I’m a bit of a mess this morning – thank you very much – so if you’re not feeling particular about it-”

“Ladies choice.”

“Suppose I’ll be going down while the sun comes up.”

“It’s already– _oh fuck_!”

Lunch may be delayed, too.

* * *

Once they actually get out of the tent and into the sunlight, it’s definitely time for lunch. Sonia throws something together as Raihan packs the tent and bags; neither dawdle over the meal. Raihan hadn’t brought a bicycle, but Lapras carries both of them back to the mainland and East Lake Axewell, and they decide to hoof it over the Wild Area between Motostoke and Hammerlocke. Once he’s back in Hammerlocke for the week, Sonia can go blaze her trail wherever she likes, and then meet up again in the Hills come the next Friday.

“You might not cover as much area as you like these next two days,” he frowns.

“It’s fine. There’s quite a bit of activity in these regions. I doubt we’ll be bored.”

“You’re the boss.”

She is. He doesn’t follow like a baby Growlithe, but he makes no attempt to tell her where to go or which Pokémon to fight. In fact, he only joins in Dynamax raids if she asks him to – which she always does. The reason is twofold; not only is his assistance an immense help in comparison to some of the greener trainers, but she can see the look in his eye as he gets the chance to go all-out in a battle. He doesn’t say so, but she thinks that this is a bit of a treat that he hadn’t expected to get this weekend.

That night they set up camp and release their Pokémon, so it’s all very lively as she cooks and he plays and they have fun just being friends and when she brings up memories of the old days and travels, it doesn’t hurt, doesn’t make her bleed inside for the time that she spent and lost.

In the meantime, Gloria proves that she’s not only the Champion but a saint. In response to Sonia’s 9PM text every night, she sends a photo of a handwritten list of all the people who asked to talk to or visit with Sonia. Leon tops the list, no surprise, though she sees Nessa and all the other Gym Leaders scattered in. Her parents are usually mentioned benignly, with her mum calling every day to make sure all is well. Hop pops up but she assumes the interest is secondary to making sure that Gloria is doing well. But Sonia is grateful that Gloria has such a good sense of humor about it, and so does Raihan after he sees all the dirty jokes Gloria sprinkles in the texts, because she can only shake her head at how painfully pigheaded everyone seems to be.

When they go to sleep that night, sleeping bags mated together, she pushes him onto his side so his back is facing her, and she promptly hugs against him from behind.

“This is new,” he muses. “Feeling kinky, eh?”

“Shut up and be the little spoon for once.”

He lets out a soft huff of a laugh but lays his arm over hers, and she falls asleep with her nose against the back of his neck so she can breathe the scent of him and feel his chest rise and fall through the night.

Sunday is spent the same as Saturday with tracking and battling, and with only three days of information there isn’t much to go on. Sonia’s disappointed but that’s how science can be, and that’s why they call it re-search. The hardest part of the day, though, ends up being dinnertime. The two of them make a curry together, their Pokémon enjoying the playtime, and all Sonia can think about is the timer in the back of her head keeping track of when he has to go. She likes having him here with her, battling at her side and being an extra brain to bounce ideas off, but she isn’t the only thing in his life and wouldn’t want to be. Wouldn’t want to limit him to being defined only by his relationship to her, whatever it is now, and she has to let him go because this is how a healthy relationship works.

Still sucks, though, and she has some of the doubt buried inside about him leaving and never coming back that she’s got to grapple with on her own time. She, of course, says none of this to him. They’re not terribly close to Hammerlocke Hills, still well in Stony Wildnerness, but he needs to get back home so he can prepare for work in the morning.

For what it’s worth, he’s dragging his heels, too. He purposefully spends time playing with each Pokémon – Sonia’s included – before he packs up everyone except Flygon. He trills and butts his head against Yamper, looking to play for a little longer, but Raihan lays a hand on his back.

“Come on, mate, we’ve got to get home,” he says softly, carefully placing the saddle and pack on Flygon’s back and putting on his glasses before looking at Sonia. “It… this was good. Felt good to be a Trainer again.”

“Didn’t it?” she smiles crookedly. “Haven’t lost your touch.”

“You either,” and he opens up his arms, and she steps right into them and lets herself get lost in his embrace, in the warmth that he’s so openly shared with her. They stand there for so long that Yamper impatiently dances around their feet and Flygon pushes his head between them. It pulls a laugh from their lips, and she steals a final kiss before Raihan jumps onto Flygon’s back.

“Safe trip home.”

“Take care, sweetheart. Call if you need something.”

She won’t, because he’s got too much on his plate with the Gym Challenge coming up, but she says, “Of course. See you on Friday.”

He waves with one hand, and Flygon takes off, whipping up a small sandstorm as he flies into the sky, and Sonia watches him until he disappears into the soaring black city in the distance. Finally, she lets out a sigh and looks down at Yamper. “Shall we get back to work, my girl?”

A woof of excitement, and they’re on their way, and Sonia feels ready for anything because if she could say goodbye without breaking down, then she can face whatever secrets may be hidden in this world.

* * *

Despite the loss of Raihan’s presence, Sonia appreciates having time to her own thoughts and can start to dig a little deeper into the Dynamax issue. She ends up keeping busier during the week than she initially expected. Monday morning, Gloria texts her about Kukui, and Sonia realizes that she’s going to have to call him while she’s out and about. They have another talk, this one much shorter, and the prospect of coming to Alola is more thoroughly sussed out. It can’t happen in the next six months, given how close the Gym Challenge is coming up, but it is certainly a possibility near the end of the year. She promises to bring a Wishing Star and footage of some Dynamax events. Maybe even a real live Galarian Gym Leader, too, she thinks to herself.

Sadly enough, she didn’t take any videos while her and Raihan were battling, which she’s now kicking herself over because they were so bloody brilliant and would have been great to show off. But since she’s gotten back into the swing of battling again it becomes much easier to jump right into the dens. Now she’s got three good reasons for it: footage for Alola, practice in case of Gloria-informed emergencies, and for the sheer fun of it.

At one point she catches a Gigantamax Centiskortch, which is a thrill because she hasn’t purposefully caught a Pokémon in ages, and she retires Shiftry to give herself a chance to try a new Pokémon in her rotation. It can learn both Crunch and Power Whip, which is a pleasant surprise, and she kind of gets why Kabu is such a fan of fire after using it. She does something she never does, which is take a selfie with her new Pokémon and sends it to Raihan. He gives the picture a heart. It’s a little odd, though, because that night he texts only three sentences before heading off to bed. And it’s that way for the rest of the week, but she’s assumes he must be overwhelmed with Gym stuff before giving a mental shrug and thinking no more of it.

But wasn’t the only change to her team. After Raihan left, she asked Yamper how she feels about evolving; her level is – and has been – high enough to evolve into a Boltund. Sonia always left the choice up to her Pokémon, who generally jumped at the chance to get more powerful, but Yamper remained her adorable butt-wiggling self. She imagines the answer will be the same as before.

But after one particularly harrowing battle against a high-level Drednaw, Rotom beeps as it senses the level-up in Yamper, and Sonia watches as her favorite Pokémon starts running around in a frantic circle and throwing up sparks and shocks. She puts her hand out to soothe Yamper, who dodges away from the touch. Instead, she rolls on the ground as if trying to put out a fire on her fur. She seems to be a mix of anxious and excited, and it’s making Sonia nervous. She heals up her Pokémon, and when they sit for dinner that night, she puts _just_ a little more effort than usual into making it as good as she can. If she could throw her physical heart into it, she would so that Yamper could feel better.

It helps but doesn’t fix the problem, and she’s still flailing about which is making all the other Pokémon more edgy than usual. So Sonia steels herself up for what she’s got to do as she watches her poor pup run herself ragged.

She half-hugs, half-tackles Yamper to the ground, and grits her teeth and tries not to scream as an electric current runs from Yamper into her, setting her fingers and arms on fire. “Yamper,” she says as softly as possible, “Yamper, it’s okay. You can do whatever you want. If you want to stay Yamper, or if you want to evolve, I’m always going to love you as my first Pokémon.”

Yamper stops moving, stops resisting. And when Sonia slowly lets her go, she begins to glow. The change is so fast that she doesn’t have any time to mentally prepare herself for what’s about to happen.

Her happy-go-lucky Yamper is now a sleek, beautiful Boltund, and she couldn’t be prouder. “You were holding back all those years for me, weren’t you?” Sonia asks as she pets Boltund’s head. “Thank you, my good girl, my bestest girl. I’m ready to change, too.”

But first – first aid! She has a smattering of electrical burns on her hands, and that will make it troublesome to do her work. She resigns herself to heading into Motostoke; Raihan’s going kill her when he finds out, but she’s right on Lake Axewell and calling up a Flying Taxi to take her to Hammerlocke when she’s _right here_ at Motostoke is just not going to happen.

She hits up one of the emergency departments and gets her hands checked out. She’s got first degree burns over parts of her palms and up her arms, but then-Yamper must have had enough control to prevent a larger shock to Sonia’s heart (which is good, or she’d be dead). They clean the burns before wrapping her hands and giving her a tiny bottle of pain medications with some more disposable bandages.

Sonia decides to bunk at the Budew Drop Inn to spare herself the work of cooking and pitching a tent for tonight. If her hands are still too tender to use after she wakes up… well, save tomorrow’s troubles for tomorrow. When she texts Raihan that night, she doesn’t mention the burns because he’s just going to flip shite if he hears about this and he really doesn’t need to when she’s fine.

She wakes up in the morning and her hands still hurt but she is a functional human being and can withstand a shower at the very least. She rewraps her hands and arms, and is satisfied with the protection they afford. Time to get back to work! Holding the bike handles hurts a bit, but she rides sedately enough to make it a non-issue.

Before she knows what happened a full week has since passed since she ditched her work, and Sonia is coming to two conclusions. One – based on Gloria’s updates, Leon may have realized that he has to give her the respect that’s due and she will talk with him when she’s good and ready, and two – she’s had a thought about the Dynamax phenomenon that is picking at the scientist in her. It could explain a lot of things, and maybe help prevent another Darkest Day. Gloria won’t be around forever, and at some point Eternatus could escape again. The problem is that the one person who can help her is someone she would rather not talk to. And getting to that person is going to be a big problem. She should let it go and go home.

But… this is one of the few things in her life that has nothing to do with Leon or Raihan or any romantic relationships. This passion is pure Sonia, and she will run herself into the ground to see it through.

 _So… let’s run_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes (3/30/2020): Goddamn, these two are thirsty as hell! A bit of a lighter shift after last chapter's dramas, so I can't say I mind too much.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has been reading this story. I'm having a lot of fun writing this and getting away from Real Life stuff, and I hope you are too. I'd be thrilled to hear your thoughts and comments.
> 
> Take care during these hard times; stay safe and stay healthy.


	8. The Secrets We Keep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 8: “Despite your self-purported love for Leon, you made plans for Raihan before coming here. Actions speak louder than words, you know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No musical accompaniment in this chapter.
> 
> I'd like to extend a HUGE thank you to DezyPhresh for her beta reading efforts. She catches my mistakes so I don't make a total fool of myself in front of my readers.

Circhester is not really one of her favorite places to visit, but she can appreciate the beauty of the perpetual winter. Even though people are still moving and shuffling through the snow, Sonia enjoys the peaceful quiet that falls blanket-soft around her shoulders.

But behind its gentle veneer is the secret knowledge that Circhester is not a soft place to live, a truth built of rock and ice and the strength of mountains that live in their backyard. At the base of the range, secretly accessible through the back of the stadium, is a path that leads to an imposing edifice that is built right into the wall of the nearest mountain.

“Are you certain you want to do this?” Melony asks as they walk together down the path. For once, Gordie had been happy to defer this responsibility to his mother.

“I have some questions that need answers, and I think he’ll have them.”

Her expression is colored with icy distrust. “It is possible he won’t give you anything helpful.”

“Or maybe I’ll gain the answers to secrets of Gigantamaxing and Galar particles.”

A tiny gasp. “I’d always assumed Prof- your grandmother had been the source of those answers, and that she’d leave them behind.”

“Not as far as I know, and I’ve read literally every book in the house and lab. But this could be it,” and now they’re standing in front of an imposing door made of reinforced steel. Melony takes off her glove and lays it against the touch screen, and the door unlocks itself. They enter an antechamber with one door going in and the other leading outside. Two soldiers open the inside door, flanked by an Aegislash and a Lucario.

“Officer Talus,” and the two men salute her. “We received your communication. Is this the Professor?”

“Yes, this is Professor Sonia Magnolia. I am vouching for her.”

“Please state your business, ma’am,” and now they look at Sonia.

She takes a deep breath. “I’m here to speak with Prisoner Rose.”

They nod. “This agrees with the request placed by Officer Melony Talus, Custodial Manager of the Mount Circhester Prison of Galar. Please step inside and follow our requests.”

They step into the first entry room, and Sonia divests herself of her jacket, hat, bag, and pokéballs. The last makes her extremely nervous, but she complies because she has no choice but to do so. It’s comfortable inside, so she’s not cold, but the energy from the rock makes it feel as though her hair has turned to icicles and is now dripping down the back of her neck.

“I will wait here,” and Melony steps through a locked door to sit behind the metal counter as Sonia walks through more of the prison. She doesn’t go very far, and the way the walls arch over her combined with the minimal lightning to make her feel insignificant and trapped almost makes her pity the life that the now-former chairman must be living.

She doesn’t perseverate on the thought as they bring her into a room with a desk embedded into the wall, and a window that she can look through. On the side is a Rotom connected to another Rotom on the other side. She can see through the window that he’s already waiting for her.

For a man who has been in prison for 5 years, Rose still holds himself with an air of dignity. He is thinner and grayer but looks no less canny. There are two soldiers standing behind him, and the two with Sonia stand behind her as she picks up the Rotom with a shaking hand that she wills to be calm. He picks it up upon seeing her move, and she sees that his hands are cuffed together.

“Professor Magnolia.”

His voice is so calm and kind, but the way he says her name makes her think of hidden razors at her neck. “Rose.”

“To what do I owe the honor of a visit from you?”

“I was hoping you’d be able to answer some questions I have about Eternatus and the energy crisis.”

“Oh?” and he raises an eyebrow. “You are interested in correcting the crisis?”

“I’m more interested in controlling the sudden outpouring of Galar particles across the country. It hasn’t slowed over the past five years, and it’s been… a problem.” She isn’t sure how much to tell the man, but this seems like a simple thing to give away.

“An unfortunate event. However, the use of Galar particles as our energy source makes that a rather acceptable side effect. Unless, you’d rather take away the power for millions of Galarians and remove the sport of Dynamaxing.”

She was afraid of this answer but tries to keep a poker face and goes in a different direction. “This happened because you released Eternatus. Before that, this wasn’t an issue. What kept it so well shielded that it couldn’t release this much energy?”

“I’m afraid I cannot answer that question, Professor Magnolia,” he says, sounding warm but regretful. “Not for lack of knowledge, but for lack of motivation. I admit that my interest in fixing that problem is non-existent.”

“ _Is_ there some way to motivate you?”

“At this time, no. There is nothing you can offer me that is worth such answers.”

“So you can’t tell me where you found it? How you found it? Where it’s been?”

“Nothing, my dear professor.”

This trip is turning into a loss, but she has one last idea on her mind. “Do you know the trigger for inducing Gigantamaxing into normal Dynamax Pokémon? Can Eternatus do it?”

Now he looks intrigued. “Interesting thought – I do not believe that question was examined prior to waking up Eternatus. One would assume that it has the capability of doing so, but I lay no claim to any empiric experience.”

Sonia absorbs the answers, minimal though they might be. She realizes she’s been silent, and he’s been waiting for a response. “Then… thank you for your time.”

“You are quite welcome. It was a pleasure to speak with you and now, if I may, offer my regards for the loss of your grandmother. Brilliant, she was. Unceasing well of knowledge on Pokémon and the Dynamax phenomenon.”

“Thank you,” she says, and the words are false and dry and bitter but she does not have an interest in antagonizing him even if he is in prison and away from her thoughts.

“I’m also pleased to hear that you have taken up her mantle. You always were such a bright girl, and now the newest Galar professor. I have read your book a few times but could not offer my impressions until now.”

“Oh?”

“Quite well written. Fascinating information about the Legendary Heroes and Darkest Day. You have done quite a lot of research, and so impressively done. Meta-commentary provided by those two ruffians causing rampant Dynamaxing in their wrath simply makes it much more enjoyable.”

“… Thank you again.”

“You know, Professor, there is someone else that you can speak with about this issue, if it keeps you up at night.”

“Oleana?”

“Leon.”

She feels the mountain shift beneath her chair. “What do you mean?”

“I spoke with him at length about Eternatus, though he may not have known at that time. It is entirely possible that he would remember much of the conversation. Or, perhaps, nothing at all. For such a smart young man, he was quite narrow-minded and short-sighted, and may have completely removed the memory of those talks from his mind. I imagine that you, of all people, may be able to tease some of the information out of him.”

_Shit. Shit shit shit shit shit_

She swallows hard and uses the moment to take control of herself. “I… appreciate your assistance.”

“I hope you come back to visit again. I’d like to know what you decide to do.”

“Goodbye.”

She’s not scared of him, not the way she’s been scared of rampaging Dynamax Pokémon, but the idea of coming back to chat with him makes her feel like she’d be walking into a trap. She just hangs up while he watches, then keeps enough of her cool to walk (not run) back to the main office and Melony.

“My goodness, child,” she says, standing up and coming around, “you’re white as a Snom! What happened?”

“Nothing. He didn’t do anything. But he wasn’t very helpful either.”

Now she looks sympathetic. “I’m sorry you wasted your time coming here. Let’s be gone. Thank you, Captain Serac.”

The captain salutes her, followed by the other soldiers, and the duo depart after Sonia gets her things.

“What did you ask about?”

“The Galar particle overload issue. If there’s any way to stem the flow and prevent more accidental Dynamax events.”

“That is no small question.”

“Considering it’s his fault, I felt that he should be able to provide insight. Unfortunately, he wasn’t motivated to talk with me.”

“What a shame that such a great man could do such a thing,” she sighs, shaking her head. “He shows no remorse, though he is a model prisoner.”

They walk back to Circhester in silence, and Sonia rolls the words from Rose around in her head.

_“You, of all people”_

_Why would Rose think that I could get Leon to remember something?_

_It can’t be that surprising – he must know we’re friends_

_All of this may be nothing more than a ploy to get you upset, or throw Leon off-balance_

_But I don’t want to talk with Leon about this_

_You care enough about this subject to talk to a convicted terrorist_

_I do, but I don’t know if I’m ready to face him, especially after… that_

_This isn’t just about you and him and Raihan anymore. This is bigger than your problems_

_No! I don’t want Rose to be the catalyst for this!_

_You’ve taken a full seven days. Gloria’s free time can only hold out another five. Better think fast_

_Then… tomorrow_

_You’re certain_

_Yes. I’ll get some rest, eat a good meal… and then I will go home tomorrow with Raihan and then call Leon to talk_

It’s like her brain is finally satisfied with the answer. She stops arguing with herself and turns to Melony as they enter the stadium’s main entrance hallway “Thank you for helping me. It was a huge favor.”

“Of course, Sonia. Anything for our region’s Professor. Let me know if I can help with anything more.”

“Right now, I think I just need to sort things out.”

“Good luck with that. And good luck with Leon and Raihan, by the way.”

She blinks. She’s been so thrown off these past two weeks that she may as well carry a Pidove feather for getting knocked over. “What did you hear?”

Melony pulls her onto one of the couches in the main entrance. “That you gave Leon quite a declaration of love in the same breath as rejecting him. And that you’ve been dating Raihan in the meantime. You are a busy woman, aren’t you?”

“Are you… is that a problem?” and she doesn’t ask with any prickliness but because she wants to know if the older woman has suddenly lost respect that Sonia has tried hard to earn among the Gym Leaders.

But Melony simply smiles. “It is the prerogative of the young to be young. Nothing wrong with dating two men at once to figure out where your heart truly lies.”

That’s not quite how the situation is going but Sonia gets her point. But then she follows up with, “Too bad your boyos don’t quite see it that way. Alas, things have snowballed out of control and Leon got himself into a fight with Raihan.”

“What?!” and her stomach is tight with fear because the thought of either man getting hurt makes her want to throw up or have another panic attack. “Are they all right?”

“Physically, yes. They both looked well enough when we all met on Wednesday. Monthly Gym Leadership Meeting, you know.”

Her heartbeat eases up, but only barely. “What happened?”

“I’m not sure – you’d have to talk to them. No one knows what they said, but it must have been serious enough to lead to a Pokémon battle in Hammerlocke Stadium this past Monday. Leon won, though Raihan managed to beat his Charizard, which has never happened before. The two men haven’t shared a word since, not even at our Meeting.”

She quickly runs through a calendar in her head; Monday was the first day of Raihan’s short responses. No phone calls since then, only truncated text messages. _Well, that explains that_. “What happened at the meeting? Another fight?”

“Leon vexed Nessa a bit too much, which bodes well for no man, and the rest of us found out about it. I believe she had been the referee for that battle. That was two days ago, and now you three are quite a regular subject in our shared chat.”

“This isn’t what I wanted,” she groans, head in her hands. “I just wanted time to myself, time to figure out how to be a proper girlfriend to Raihan and get over this crush on Leon and _UGH!_ This is the worst!”

Melony puts a sympathetic arm around Sonia’s shoulders. “There, there. Things will work themselves out if you give it a chance.”

It doesn’t feel that easy, but the comfort is appreciated. Melony lets her silently stew in this frustration for a few minutes before saying, “Would you like to stay the night here?”

“In Circhester?”

“With my family. We’d be happy to have you and get your mind off such things.”

She gives it some consideration, then remembers what day it is. “I can’t. I have to meet up with Raihan after this. And Gordie probably mentioned me coming by, so Leon may be showing up soon, and I’m still not in the right mental place to talk with him.”

“Oh? You’ve already made your choice, then?”

“What do you mean?”

“Despite your self-purported love for Leon, you made plans for Raihan before coming here. Actions speak louder than words, you know.”

That… is a very interesting point that Sonia hadn’t really put any weight on. _Maybe I am changing_.

Melony gives her a final little squeeze before letting go. “Well, you are still welcome to come by for a visit. I, for one, would love to hear some of your stories. And perhaps we can compare the strengths of our Lapras.”

“You… I didn’t battle you before, did I?”

“No, but I think it would be fun, wouldn’t you?” and there’s a delightful twinkle in her eye.

It wouldn’t be for any badge, but the idea makes Sonia feel young again. “Then, I’ll look forward to coming back when I’m done with this.”

“Then, take care, Sonia. Ride safely!”

She heads out and decides to hail a Flying Taxi, this time going right to Hammerlocke. Raihan hasn’t even texted her today about what time they’re going to meet up, and now that she knows what’s bothering him, she can’t _not_ go to visit. It’s about time to end her self-imposed exile, anyway.

It’s still early afternoon, and she imagines he might still be at the Stadium. She heads inside and talks to the girl behind the desk. “Hi, can you help me?”

The girl recognizes her and smiles brightly. “Of course, Professor. What can I help you with?”

“Is Raihan around?”

“Yes, I think so. Probably in his office. Do you have an appointment?”

Her heart skips. “No, I didn’t… this is a bit last minute.”

“Oh, don’t worry! I think his schedule is free right now,” she double-checks something on the computer before nodding. “Looks good. Would you like me to take you there?”

“That’d be lovely,” and she follows the apprentice through a door and a few hallways until they reach a room with a plate on the wall.

**Hammerlocke Gym Leader Office**

**Raihan Mirazdya**

The girl knocks, and he immediately responds with, “Come in.”

“Hello sir,” she says, opening the door and revealing an office with a giant L-shaped desk near a corner window. The room isn’t cluttered per se, but there are shelves filled with books and pokéballs and folders and Dialgia only knows what, and a small table and two chairs near the door that looks so clean and out of place it’s like someone took a hand and pushed everything right off it. Raihan is staring at a double-computer screen, his right-sided profile to them, and additional paperwork scattered around. She almost feels bad about interrupting him before the apprentice continues with, “Professor Magnolia is here to speak with you.”

His head whips over so fast that Sonia worries he’s just broken his own neck. “Sonia! Hello! I, ah, didn’t expect to see you here,” he says, standing up.

“I was in the neighborhood,” she lies, holding out her hand for him to shake, because they must be colleagues and not lovers right now, and he gives her a shake that lasts a heartbeat too long. “Do you have some time to talk?”

“Of course. Wait – let me see,” and he ducks back behind the desk, does a few clicks, and lets out a sigh of relief. “Yes, I’m good. Rest of the day is cleared. Thanks for helping the professor, Tiare. I’ll be taking off after our conversation.”

“Sounds good. See you on Monday, sir,” and she shuts the door after herself, leaving the two of them alone in his office.

It’s momentarily awkward, in part because Sonia has to follow his lead and Raihan looks almost lost in his own office. “I guess we take a seat,” and he gestures to the little table.

“Sorry for coming in so rudely and unannounced,” she says as they sit together.

“No, it’s fine. Seeing you is always welcome. But I thought we had some time before meeting up?”

“We didn’t make a time, but I received some enlightening information that I wanted to talk to you about.”

“On Dynamax Pokémon?”

“In part, yes, but we’ll get to that later. So when were you going to tell me that you got into a scrap with Leon?”

He goes still, caught in a spotlight when he’s not ready to perform. “Who… did Gloria tell you about it?”

“Raihan,” and now her voice takes an edge that is generally reserved for people who have done a phenomenal job of ticking her off. “What happened?”

“Nothing-”

“Don’t lie to me!” and she raises it just a hair above normal volume before reining herself in. “I’m sorry. I’m just- I just heard about it barely an hour ago. And I was scared witless that you had gotten hurt. Please… tell me what happened.”

He looks pained but gives in.

“Me and Leon… so he called on Monday asking about you,” he says, and now he has all these nervous tics piling up as he talks; hand running through his hair, chewing his lip with his canines, bouncing his knee. If Sonia didn’t know any better, she’d think he’d broken that law with that much guilty energy. “It’s kind of my fault. I wasn’t feeling all that generous when he rang, so I told him he could suffer like the rest of us while you went and did your thing. He said he wasn’t like the ‘rest of us’, which, no surprise, set me off. I don’t remember exactly what I said, but I rubbed it in that we’re together and he can suck a bell-end if he doesn’t like being on the outside for once. To which he replied that even if we are and he’s not, I must be pants at taking care of you if you wanted to run away from everything, including me. So I fucking lost it; challenged him to a fight that afternoon. Probably started out as wanting to brawl, honestly, and it’s only because Nessa was available to referee that we didn’t degenerate into good-ole-fashioned fisticuffs on the pitch.”

Sonia doesn’t even have it in her to outwardly express how annoyed she is with both men. Instead, she is Professor Magnolia listening to the drama unfolding between the Macro Cosmos CEO and Hammerlocke Gym Leader. “What happened in the battle?”

“What do you _think_ happened? I lost!” and now that nervous energy is turned into a barely banked fire of frustration and belligerence. “I always lose to Leon-bloody-Terrene! Why should that battle have been any different?”

“Did it prove anything? Settle your differences?”

“No, of course not! Because it’s not his or my choice what you bloody well choose to do!”

“Then why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want to tell you about it because it’s me and Leon having it out over you, and I thought you’d be even angrier over that than the battle itself. You’re a person, not a thing, and we both know it,” he explains, and she begrudgingly agrees with the accuracy of his statement. They’re silent for a minute while she takes time to absorb this and he continues to stew in his own discontent.

Finally he says, “So nothing got settled because you were still running around alone and I was here and Leon didn’t know what to do with the confession you dropped in his lap. And all the stuff we said to each other hit harder than we thought, and I’ve not been in a mood to put this to rights so it’s just easier to pretend the other’s not around.”

“What happened Wednesday?”

“Gym Leader meeting in Wyndon. Gloria and the ten Gym Leaders get together to discuss some of the big-issue stuff going on. Leon comes too because he owns the Battle Tower, which is treated like an offshoot of the League, so it wasn’t anything new. But things hit the fan when someone asked Gloria where you were.”

“Me?”

“You’re the starting point of the Challenge, mate, and it’s less than two months away. You going offline freaked everyone out. Gloria said you were doing Secret Professor Things and would be back by next week and she had a handle on everything, but I think Leon still had his knickers in a twist about our battle and said that it didn’t seem like you to be so unprofessional as to leave your work without warning.”

Oh, she is going to need to have words with that man. They would not be nice words.

“Giving him a little credit – very little – he’s been worrying about you since your meltdown, and I’m thinking he feels guilty. But Nessa wasn’t in the mood to be charitable, and she nearly jumped down his throat about how all this started because he couldn’t be bothered to think about other people unless it directly affected him, and then it just,” and he gestured ‘explosion’ with his hands, “until everyone knew that me and Leon had it out, and that we’re dating but you’re still into Leon and yeah, you can see why I didn’t really want to talk about it. It was just a lot to deal with, and you didn’t know, and I didn’t think you needed to know until we met up. Kind of like how you didn’t tell me you hurt yourself.”

For a moment Sonia blinks at him in confusion, but then he takes her hand and holds the palm up. There are red lines that streak upward to mid-forearm, and she hasn’t been wrapping them in order to keep the scars from tightening up too much. She’s also been trying to stretch her hands as much as possible; the scabs are falling off, which is a good sign, and she thinks she’ll be fully healed by next week.

“What happened?” and now he gets a turn to have that restrained fury in his voice.

“Yamper burned my hands. She didn’t mean to do it,” she quickly adds because the last thing she wants is a fight between her favorite Pokémon and her boyfriend, “but she needed some help evolving into Boltund. Got seen at a Motostoke A&E, and they said I was fine to go home with some minor care.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” and he traces one of the lines up and down so gently that it almost hurts.

“There was nothing to do. They gave me pain medicine and bandages, and I slept at the Budew Drop Inn to give myself a break, and then went off the next day. Honestly, if it had been worse, I would have rung you up.” He looks skeptical, so she continues. “I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d worry. Because I don’t want to be the wrong kind of distraction during your day.”

“But naked selfies are A-OK?”

She pulls her hand back and crosses her arms. “Well, I won’t do that anymore, all right?”

“No, that’s not- Sonia, the point is that we’re supposed to bother each other with things. That’s how this works.”

“Then what’s the real reason why didn’t you tell me about your fight?” and really, she knows the truth beyond what he’s already said, but she asks because sometimes saying it out loud helps lance the wound and heal a little faster. But when he doesn’t answer, she answers for him. “You’re embarrassed to tell me that you lost. And not just that you lost; it was that you lost a fight _over me_ to Leon.”

“Yeah, I am,” he finally admits, and it almost makes her bleed to look at him because it’s not just embarrassment, but humiliation that he emanates as he sits across from her, looking at everything _but_ her. Like he doesn’t deserve to look at her. “And yeah, you know how it feels to lose to him, but this is different. My arse gets handed to me on a platter in a professional battle, so what? Get up and try again. But losing when it’s about who can take of you better, who cares about you more? That really felt like a kick in the bag.”

She almost says, _I don’t need anyone to take care of me_ , but realizes that is the _wrong_ thing to say right now, because it has nothing to do with her capabilities and everything to do with his pride as her boyfriend. But she’s not sure he wants a hug either, given how closed off his whole posture looks, so she’s stuck just sitting and looking at him, wanting to do something but not sure what it is.

She remembers what Melony told her and, after scooting her chair a little closer to his, she reaches out and touches his cheek. He immediately closes his eyes and leans into the touch, though his brow is still furrowed and his expression one of discontent.

“You didn’t lose,” she softly says. “I’m here.”

A hum, a sound of not-disagreeing, and she watches the tension start to fade as he nuzzles against her palm, then holds her hand and gives it a kiss. “Thanks, Sonia. Sorry you had to come back to an absolute FUBAR of a situation.”

“Nothing to be done for it,” she sighs. “Sorry I didn’t tell you about my hands.”

“Just don’t do it again. I take it personally when someone I care about gets hurt.”

That warms her, makes her cheeks feel pink and her stomach starts to flutter. They sit like that and let the seconds tick by, affection flowing between them before Raihan sighs. “So this is going to sound rude, but I need to finish a few things before we leave. Do you mind waiting?”

“No, that’s fine. I have something I need to finish, too.”

He goes back to the desk after stealing another kiss from her palm, and she pulls out the Power Level tracker, Gran’s Rotom, and a notebook. Time to make notes; she can transfer them to her laptop when she gets home.

Stuff she knows:

  * Galar particle levels are still elevated 5 years after Eternatus’ release
  * No random Dynamax events at the Stadiums like before, nor in non-Den areas
  * The rate of Dynamaxing has been relatively stable per Den, but the percentage of active Dens has increased
  * More Pokémon are starting to Gigantamax
  * Rose probably knows something but doesn’t want to tell her 
    * Ergo, Rose is an arsehole of the largest proportions



Stuff she needs to figure out:

  * If it’s possible to re-seal Eternatus for future reference 
    * If re-sealed, will it cause massive energy problems
  * Is the rate of Dynamaxing and Gigantamaxing related to Eternatus 
    * If so, can Eternatus voluntarily induce these changes
  * Whether Eternatus can absorb excess Galar particles, or if that will turn it back into its Eternamax form
  * What does Rose know 
    * Did he or Oleana keep any information written down that she can access
  * What does Leon know, if anything



She leans back in the chair, and since her hair’s still in a bun she can’t twirl it like usual, so she settles for playing with the tie on her hoodie. _So Eternatus is still the center of this problem,_ she reasons out. _If we could do some experimenting with it, perhaps some of these questions can get answered. But whether or not it would be willing to do so… that’s not a question I can answer_.

But there is someone who can.

“Raihan?”

“Yeah?”

“I think I’m going to cut my field research short.”

He looks over at her with a questioning glance. “Why? Thought you needed more info than just a week’s worth.”

“I do, but I think I need to talk to Gloria.”

“About what?”

“Eternatus?”

He pulls a face; for the Dragonmaster to be so disdainful of a Dragon-type Pokémon is sure a sign as any that Eternatus is not pleasant to be around. But then he says, “Do you have to go tonight?”

She hears the silent plea in his voice and pulls out her phone. “No, I’ll text her. See if she’s free tomorrow.”

Sonia: **Hello love. Letting you know that I’m back on duties**

Sonia: **I can come get my Rotom whenever you’re free**

Gloria: **Glad to hear you’re doing well**

Gloria: **I’m free tomorrow, if you’d care to visit Wyndon, so I don’t mind holding the Rotom ‘til then**

Gloria: **So if you’re back to being the Professor, are you still shagging the Hammerlocke Leader? Or is** **it** **a conflict of interest?**

Sonia: **Not conflicted, very interested**

Gloria: ***laughing emoji x 3***

Gloria: **Quick update, nothing amiss at your lab**

Gloria: **No texts from a certain ex-Champion**

Sonia: **I heard about what happened last Monday**

Gloria: **OOOOOOOHHHH!!**

Gloria: **Okay, I’ve got to go in five minutes, but we’ll have a chinwag tomorrow**

Gloria: **AM or PM please say PM**

Sonia: **PM it is. After 1?**

Gloria: **I’ll take it! See you then**

They work on their separate subjects for another hour before he lets out a groan and stretches his arms so high that his spine lets out a crack. “That should be plenty. You ready to go?”

“Yes, but… I’ve cooked so much this week I’d like a break. Can we go out?”

“Not a problem. Got a taste in mind?”

“Surprise me.”

He picks a casual fish-and-chips restaurant, and they make easy small talk about the things that happened during the week she was gone. Outside of the battle, Raihan admits that work life has been uneventful, and he’s more excited to hear about Boltund’s evolution and the new Centiskortch. He takes a mild interest in Professor Kukui, does not seem thrilled with the idea of her going to another country on her own, but perks up when she mentions that it would be far after the Gym Challenge was over and maybe there’s something in Alola that could spark his interest.

Sonia finds out that all the worrying and overthinking has made her so hungry she finishes her plate and a side. Raihan grins at her as he eats his own meal, and when the bill arrives, she doesn’t make an attempt to pay. She thinks he’s grateful for that, and his energy is both relaxed and satisfied as they stand outside the restaurant.

“You want to come back home with me, or to Wedgehurst?”

“I’m not really in the mood to travel. Could I-”

“Yes. Please. Let’s go now.”

“A tad impatient, aren’t we?”

“I haven’t seen you all week. Hell yes I’m impatient!”

As they’re walking back to his flat, the quiet between them gentle rather than stifling, she thinks about reaching out to his hands, though they’re both in his hoodie pockets. She also wonders if she’d look like a kid holding her dad’s hand considering the massive difference in height.

_Come on, then, Miss Clever Clogs, and try something new._

So she sidles up close and, before he can look over, she threads her hand into the crook of his elbow and rests it there. She doesn’t look up when he looks over at her – seen through the corner of her eye – but does smile to herself when he tightens his arm against his body. Now she’s trapped and can’t go anywhere. But it’s nice because her arm isn’t held way up over her head and Raihan looks perfectly at ease too so she decides this might have to be her default way to walk with him from now on.

And when his other hand comes out to stroke the tops of her fingers, soothing them both, she thinks that this is the only way to travel.

* * *

They get back to his apartment and promptly fall right into each other. Sonia didn’t consider herself the gagging type, and held up quite well during her dry spells, but there’s something about this man that makes it hard to resist touching him as well as resist the urge to ask for more touches.

Clothes go everywhere, pokéballs are strewn on the floor, loud noises are made, and a very good time is had by all.

But they’re lying in bed, awake and cuddling and staring at their respective Rotom, when Sonia gets a text from Gloria.

Gloria: **Melony sent you a text. Said, ‘You were on the nose. He came by not two hours later. Sent on his merry way with a pep talk’**

Gloria: **I know you’d get this tomorrow, but thought you’d appreciate it now**

Sonia: **Thanks, Gloria, you’re the best**

Gloria: **What did you do today that you saw Melony?**

Sonia: **Went to visit Rose at the Prison so I had to go through her**

The Rotom immediately rings; Sonia answers on speakerphone and is greeted with a yelling Gloria. “What the good goddamn hell is wrong with you?!” and now Raihan is staring at both her and phone with shock.

“Gloria, please, I am-”

“You went to see a dangerous criminal _in prison?_ Why didn’t you ring me to go with?”

“Wait, you what?!” Raihan yelps.

“You’re with Raihan?” Gloria follows up, her fire-red anger taking on a putrid-yellow indignant tone. “Did he know about this?!”

“Course I didn’t! What the bloody hell happened?”

_Well, this situation went tits-up faster than a two-pokédollar whore._ “Can you both calm down? To answer Raihan – I went to see Rose today because I thought he’d have answers to the Dynamax problem, but it’s more complicated than that. To answer Gloria – I didn’t because you have duties that are more important, and second, he’s in prison. He can’t hurt us.”

“You don’t know that! You don’t know what he can do!”

For all her strength, Gloria still bears scars from the Darkest Day. Sonia has heard Hop wake up screaming for his brother or Gloria on more than one occasion while he was still in her house. It breaks her heart to think they’re both so affected by such a heartless man’s thoughtless action.

“I’m fine, Gloria. I promise,” and she steels herself to ask this question. “Do you want me to come back to the lab? Are you there?”

“No, I’m at home in Wyndon. Just… don’t do that again. Please.” It obviously takes Raihan aback, listening to how upset their Champion is over this and how vulnerable she sounds, enough so that he hasn’t started yelling at Sonia again.

“I went with Melony, like I said. If it makes you feel better.”

“Oh. Right.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

The two adults look at each other, and Raihan slowly shakes his head. _She’s not_ , and Sonia agrees _._ Maybe they’ve gotten to the mind-reading part of a relationship.

So she asks, “Do you want me to come to Wyndon?” The silence stretches on for a good ten seconds, and Sonia’s made up her mind. “I’ll be there in a half-hour.”

“Thanks,” Gloria whispers, and hangs up.

They sit in bed for a few seconds, staring at each other before Sonia says, “I think you could come with too, if you want. Might make her feel better to have an extra bodyguard.”

But he shakes his head. “No, she wants her friend, not her colleague. You go.”

“I’m so sorry, Rai. About leaving, and this. I meant to tell you about the trip. It wasn’t nearly as scary as Gloria thinks it was,” she explains as she gets her clothes back on.

“Why did you go?”

“To ask what he knew about Eternatus and the increased Galar particle effect. But if he knows something, he’s not telling. He actually told me to talk to Leon, but I can’t be sure if it’s a red Arrokuda or not.”

“Think you’re going to have to anyway, mate,” Raihan sighs, then flops into his pillow. “Smashing day we’ve had, huh?”

“Are you angry?” she asks hesitantly.

“A little, but not like I was with your hands. I’m annoyed but I’ll get over it.”

“I’m sorry. I should have mentioned it over dinner, but we were talking about other stuff and I… just found better things to tell you. I’m sorry.”

He leans across the bed, hooks a finger into her shirt collar, and pulls her down for a kiss. A reminder, more than anything, that he’s not going anywhere. “You didn’t keep this from me on purpose. And you won’t in the future, right?”

“Right. Same as you?”

“Right.” And she goes into the sitting room to get her things together.

He soon follows her, wearing only his boxer briefs and yessir that’s distracting as all get-out but she manages to get her jacket, pokéballs, and bag all together before she strides up and gives him a final kiss. It gets both of them excited but she steps back and gives him a wink.

“I’ll text you tomorrow. Maybe we can finish this in Wedgehurst.”

“Looking forward to it, sweetheart. Take care of Gloria for us.”

She catches the nearest Taxi and heads off to Wyndon, which is a quick trip given the proximity of the two cities. When she arrives at the Champion’s Home – a cottage built near the Wyndon Stadium, oddly peaceful for its proximity to such a raucous building – Gloria is already in her pyjamas and flings herself at Sonia as she opens the door.

“I’m so sorry, Sonia, I didn’t mean to make you do this,” she natters on. “But after you said that I got this awful vision of the Energy Plant, and how he looked after he beat Hop and when he was fighting me, and I saw Leon on the ground on the roof and it all just hit me at once.”

Sonia pets her hair to smooth away the fear, but Gloria is a sapling that shakes in the autumn night, stiff branches and falling leaves. “It’s all right. Really. Let me make you something hot for bedtime.”

She releases Boltund, who takes it upon herself to cuddle up with Gloria while Sonia warms some milk with honey and spices.

“I didn’t know you evolved Yamper.”

“It’s been a secret.”

“I’ll bet Raihan knows.”

“Clever girl.”

“Of course I am,” and she rubs Boltund’s head. “You look very strong and brave! Are you taking good care of Sonia?”

Boltund barks, then licks Gloria’s face. A laugh, a warming of the chill as Sonia brings the mug.

“Thank you. Rude of me not to be taking care of you in my own house….”

“Friends don’t worry about those things,” she gently reminds Gloria as she sits down.

They let the quiet fall over them, an evening mist that’s warm from friendship, and Gloria finishes the drink before going into the bedroom with eyes that have begun to glaze over. Sonia silently sends Boltund into the room with her, and after Gloria collapses into bed the pup lays herself right at the Champion’s feet for an equally deep sleep.

But when Sonia lays on the couch in her sleeping bag, she comes to a single conclusion that she doesn't like but knows it is the right one.

Tomorrow, they’re going to talk about Eternatus, and then she’s going to talk to Leon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes (4/13/2020): So I have some news for you all.
> 
> Starting today, I am taking a hiatus from writing these stories. I was initially going to say 'writing', but that's not true. I've been tasked with writing a professional paper that is due in June, and I cannot write two different fanfics on a schedule AND stuff for the paper without something falling through the cracks. This is good for me in terms of career advancement, but it's bad for my fanfic readers because I can't post until after I've finished with my work. So I'm asking for everyone's patience because I promise to come back and finish these stories.
> 
> Thank you to everyone for your support and comments. You've been a source of joy.


	9. Data Recovery Techniques

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Leon is no longer the Champion and things are changing for the younger generation, perhaps the future will shift in a direction that Sonia has never expected. When she decides to accept an invitation to go out dancing with Nessa and Raihan, she finds out that there may be more than one dream and more than one kind of happiness. This is the divergence from my first story 'Your World Was Not Mine (Your Eyes Told Me So)', and will run parallel to the original
> 
> Chapter 9: “Then why did you always leave? Why was it so easy to walk away from me?”
> 
> “It wasn’t! It never was.”
> 
> “If you cared, why didn’t you ever come when I needed you?”
> 
> There’s one thing that she’s never brought up before, but this is as good a time as any if he is going to profess such a lie.
> 
> “Where were you when Gran died?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Musical Accompaniment: "Echoes", by Lauren Aquilina. It should be played when Sonia and Raihan are sitting and talking with Leon in his apartment all the way to when the duo leave.

Gloria wakes up in a good mood though still a touch fragile, so Sonia stays to eat breakfast with her. It’s Saturday and the world still sleeps as the two of them cook up a meal for themselves and their Pokémon. They talk about how Snivy’s been adjusting and Sonia’s new Centiskorch before getting to the nitty-gritty details.

“I should take my Rotom back like I promised,” Sonia sighs. “It was quite nice having the undisturbed time to myself, but I best go back to being Professor Magnolia again.”

“I can still give you extra time if you want,” Gloria offers, genuine as a newly found pearl. “I don’t mind.”

But she shakes her head, and Gloria hands it back. “Regardless of what’s happened to me personally, I have to take my work responsibilities back. That also includes some things that you, the Champion of Galar, might want to hear about.”

While Sonia may see herself mirrored against Hop, she can very easily see herself in Gloria. Wearing masks of a professional, a Pokémon trainer, a friend, in a complicated relationship with a Terrene brother… it’s almost disquieting to watch the change from a happy-go-lucky 21-year-old to the very focused, unyielding guardian of her region.

Sonia explains that the Dynamax issue may not be solved in their lifetime, especially since the rise in particle numbers may be tied to the presence of Eternatus. Even with it trapped in a pokéball, its passive existence outside the meteorite might be enough to increase the Galar particle level. It’s possible that Rose either a) has answers that he’s not willing to divulge, or b) is completely bullshitting them. It’s also possible that Leon has answers, but equally possible that he does not remember the conversations, or (again) Rose is full of so much shit that his eyes are going to turn from green to brown.

The other thing is an idea that Sonia has, and decides to bring it up.

“How do you feel about doing something dangerous?”

Gloria looks thoughtful. “Can this wait until Monday? I have a very boring meeting that I would rather miss out on, and death-defying Pokémon battles would make a fabulous excuse.”

Sonia starts howling with laughter, but soon calms down as the gravity of the question starts to hit her. “Would you be willing to do some experimenting with Eternatus?”

Now Gloria sits back in her chair, crossing her arms and letting out a deep breath. “How angry do you think the lads are going to be when they hear about this?”

“Which ones? Hop? Raihan? Leon?”

“All of them.”

“Probably quite angry.”

A moment to reflect, and they start to clean up. Sonia takes a shower, then starts packing while Gloria washes up. She comes out, not in her usual Champion outfit, but something more casual and subtle – a faded green sweatshirt, jeans, sunglasses, and a gray snapback.

“Fuck it, I’m in. When and where?”

So now Sonia and Gloria are in the Giant’s Seat as the place for this adventure, as it’s the farthest point from any town or train tracks so the damage control will be minimal. They’ve picked a Den that’s about as far east as possible, and Gloria juggles her pokéball while Sonia sets up the Rotom phones to record the results. No other trainer is around, which is helped by Sonia’s Lapras and Gloria’s Gyarados keeping everyone away from them.

“I mean, if I haven’t made Hop mad, then I’m just not living my life,” Gloria says nonchalantly. Sonia knows that’s such a boldfaced lie she doesn’t even bother to do more than smile patiently as she sets up the two Rotom.

“You two will have plenty of chances to make each other mad. Hopefully the make-up sex is good.”

“It is!” and then she blinks. “I suppose I should have kept that to myself.”

Sonia looks to the sky, trying so damn hard not to laugh. “Have you two made it official? That you’re a ‘thing’?”

Gloria rubs the back of her neck. “I want to. Hop’s worried because he’ll be gone so long that he doesn’t want to keep me waiting. Not like he hasn’t made me wait already, the arse.”

A chuckle from both women, but then she continues. “I think he’s afraid I’ll find someone else while he’s gone.”

“You don’t think you will.” It’s not a question.

“I can’t imagine being with anyone but Hop. He’s…,” and her voice is softer than a Cottonee, “He’s the last thought before I fall asleep. He’s the dream I want to wake up to every morning. He’s _mine_ in a way no one else could ever be. I’d rather be alone than with someone who isn’t him.”

The rawness of her words makes Sonia think of broken ribs, cracked cartilage, a caved-in chest wall on top of an unbeating heart. “Do you think _he_ wants someone else?”

“No,” she says, but it sounds sad. “I think he may want some _thing_ else.”

 _What could Hop want more than Gloria?_ Then she makes the obvious connection. “You’re worried that he may want to stay in Unova or Kanto when he’s done.”

“It’s not unreasonable.”

A shake of her head. “Time will just have to tell. I wish I could forsee the future for you two, but if wishes were stars….”

“They’d fall to the ground,” Gloria finishes, rubbing her hand against her Dynamax Band. “Speaking of which, shall we get started?”

“Just a minute.”

Sonia takes a step back from the setup, satisfied with its stability. She pulls the Power Level tracker out and sets it to the side so that one of the Rotom can record its fluctuations as the experiment progresses. They have both been given instructions, which she expects they will follow through. However, there is one thing she needs.

The sound of singing in the distance, like a soprano soloist, and it starts getting louder and louder, and Sonia smiles when she finally sees Flygon soar up over the nearest copse of trees and land right next to them.

“Sorry I’m late,” Raihan says, not bothering to jump off. “But you know the adage – the party’s not a party until I’m here.”

Gloria gives Sonia a _look_. “Really.”

“Really. I’m already in a world of trouble from earlier, so I couldn’t _not_ call him.”

“So why am I keeping this a secret from Hop, then?”

“Because he’s working, and Raihan isn’t.”

“Good to see you too, Glo-stick.”

“I’m not very happy about this, you know.”

“Duly noted,” Sonia says. “Let’s review the plan one last time.”

Gloria glares at her for another second before letting out a sigh. “You’re going to release a Pokémon into the Den, and I will release Eternatus. Then we’ll see if Eternatus can voluntarily make a Pokémon Dynamax.”

“And if it can do that, then we’ll see if it can induce the Gigantamax phenomenon.”

Raihan lets out a low whistle but otherwise says nothing. Sonia had texted him, saying that he could join them as long as he didn’t interfere with the testing and helped keep other trainers away from them. He seems to be taking her seriously, though his Rotom is floating around his body looking for a good photo opportunity.

Now Gloria grins, her mild ire forgotten, and her look is the same that Leon would wear whenever he was gearing up for a Championship battle. “I can’t wait.”

“Me neither,” and Sonia pulls out a pokéball. “Go on, little Delibird. Jump on in.”

She’d caught it a day ago, just for the fun of it, and it doesn’t seem to realize how many hopes and theories are pinned on its existence right now. All it does is hop into the hole and walk all the way to the bottom.

“You want me to do anything in particular?” Raihan asks as it wanders down.

“If you would be so kind to patrol, that would be quite helpful.”

“You got it,” and he and Flygon jump into the air and begin moving to the edge of the Giant’s Seat. When Sonia turns back, the Delibird has reached the ground, and she watches the Galar particles start to stir under its feet right after she tosses a Wishing Piece at it.

“Come on out, Eternatus.”

Gloria tosses the ball, and the black-bone Dragon comes out with a roar. Sonia instinctively steps back, but all Gloria does is hold up her hand and it touches her palm with its “face”. It is mind-boggling how at ease she seems to be with the creature.

“Eternatus, can you stop it from Dynamaxing?” and she points to the Delibird, and the way the light is starting to spiral upwards.

The creature swirls over their heads, a lazy rowboat in the ocean of a sky. But as Sonia watches, she can see it start to absorb the energy until the Wishing Piece has disappeared, the Den has quieted down, and the Delibird is left standing there stupidly waiting for something to happen.

“Wonderfully done,” Sonia breathes out. “So it can stop the Dynamax phenomena by devouring the particles.”

But then Gloria jumps in, grabs the Delibird and pulls it out of the Den before plopping it on the grass next to her. “Can you make it Dynamax now? Without help from the Den?”

This is… unplanned, but Sonia doesn’t stop it. What if it works?

A moment of thought, tail waving in the breeze, before it opens its jaws and shoots the Delibird with a thin beam of purple light. Gloria barely jumps back in time, and Sonia snatches up the wildly flashing Power Level tracker as the two Rotom move to record everything. But it’s growing awfully fast!

Then Raihan grabs Gloria, then Sonia, and throws them gracelessly onto Flygon’s back as it starts to expand to where they were standing. “Are you two out of your bloody minds?”

“It’s for science!” Gloria yells back, pulling herself up to sit side-saddle in front of Sonia.

Sonia interrupts their pending argument and points at the ground. She doesn’t even bother to sit up. “Look!”

The poor dragon can’t go too fast nor too high with so many riders but it’s enough that they can watch what happens from a safe(r) distance. The Delibird isn’t knocked out; instead, Sonia watches in slow-motion as it starts to glow and shine, growing bigger and bigger until there’s a Dynamax Delibird standing on the thumb of an island.

“Sweet fuck,” Raihan says, and swears again as Eternatus flies right by them like a curious Sharpedo swimming in familiar waters. Flygon bucks for a second in surprise, and Raihan immediately brings them all to the ground since the transformation is complete. “Off you are, ladies!”

“Cheers! Make sure no one’s around to see this!”

“Done,” and he is more than happy to get away from the mess.

“You did it!” and Gloria claps and cheers. “You Dynamaxed a Pokémon outside of a Den! You are a very clever dragon!”

Eternatus lets out another roar, though it sounds different this time; less like a bite and more like a crow of pride.

The final question, and she asks, “Can you turn it into a Gigantamax Delibird?”

It must be bolstered by all the praise because it spins around for a moment before absorbing some Galar particles from the air (and it is the _weirdest_ thing to see that both Gloria and Sonia have some that lift right off their skin and clothes), and the beam isn’t the usual purple-pink, but white-yellow with a hint of red threading through that gets shot right into the Delibird and absorbed into its body. The Pokémon doesn’t seem to mind, but they watch in real time as it starts to morph. The feathers on its head turn into a red stocking cap with a white tuft on the end, and a jacket and pants start to sprout over its body. It’s bag, normally dragging on the ground, is now hefted over its shoulder and bulging with unseen gifts while a long beard of feathers grows around its beak and chin to drag against the ground like a giant scarf.

Finally, Eternatus has had enough, and it gently floats to the ground at Gloria’s feet. She wordlessly hands it a berry, which it eats before going off to play with Gyarados and Lapras.

The two women look at each other, then up at the never-before-seen Gigantamax Delibird.

“It did it,” Sonia finally says.

“Yeah. It did.” Her face breaks into a huge grin, and she lets out a wild child laugh. “It can turn Pokémon into Gigantamax forms! This is an amazing discovery, isn’t it?”

“It was just a guess on my part… but we were right. Eternatus can control the status.”

The Delibird lets out an annoyed sound, clearly asking them ‘are we done yet?’, which cuts right through both of their ears and they clap their hands over their heads. “Ow! Best catch it again!” Gloria yells over the noise.

“Right!” and Sonia grabs its pokéball, turns it into a Dynamax ball, and throws it back at the Delibird. It goes right back inside, shrinks, and comes to a rest. She picks it up, puts it in her bag, then grabs Gloria’s hands. “We did it!”

They dance and jump and sing to themselves, delighted by the discovery and oh-so-proud of their ingenuity, before they hear Raihan yell, “Oi! You lot!”

Both women whip their head in his direction as Flygon stirs up a sandstorm. Through the newly flung winds, she sees them dive into a group of Trainers. They all scatter like leaves, and when the sandstorm clears he’s still sitting on Flygon, looking annoyed as all get-out.

“Little bastards got away,” he snarls as he flies to the duo.

“What happened?” Gloria asks.

“They were hiding behind an outcropping of rock; I just saw them from above, but one of the little shites threw some Bright Powder, and we missed catching any of ‘em.”

“What were they doing?”

“Far as I can tell? Recording. Don’t know how long they were there, though.”

 _Long enough_ seems to go through all three of their minds. But there’s nothing to be done for it now, and Sonia just shakes her head. “While we’re all here, let’s get some lunch ready. Raihan, would you be a dear and give me a hand?”

“You make that request outside the bedroom, too?” Gloria gasps with a scandalized tone in her voice, and Sonia shoots her a look that could burn through Conkeldurr beams. The girl just turns around, humming a meaningless tune, as she pulls out a ball and tosses it to Eternatus.

“I forgot how much fun it is hanging around with her,” Raihan grins while he helps stir the curry.

“Spare me you both,” she mutters.

He leans over and murmurs in her ear, “We can work our way up to all five, you know.”

Now she takes her own ladle and chases him off, with Raihan laughing the whole way, and instead grabs Gloria’s arm as she stalks back to the pot. “This is your fault, so now you can help me.”

“Being around such mature grown-ups really imposes quite an education on me,” Gloria says in that oh-so-Milcery-sweet voice as she fans the flames.

“Is this payback for the not-telling-Hop part?”

“Perhaps. Probably yes. But I also enjoy watching you two, so it’s cheap entertainment.”

Somehow or another, Sonia manages to finish cooking the curry and _not_ burn it or throw more things at her companions. It actually turns our surprisingly well, and everyone is rewarded with filling meal. No one goes hungry, and not a bite of food is left in the pot.

Finally, they sit back and take a moment to reflect, sitting in a triangle with the focus between Sonia and Gloria.

“So now that we know Eternatus can cause both Dynamaxing and Gigantamaxing, what do we do?” Gloria asks.

“I think we best keep this between us for the moment. It would be a problem is someone wanted to take Eternatus or try to do you harm in the name of their own self-interest.”

“Should I put it away?”

Sonia herself wouldn’t want to carry the ball around even if it was nested in a dozen pokéballs, and Raihan’s look mirrors her own, but Gloria seems unaffected. “If you want.”

“I think it’s been awfully lonely these past millennia. I’ll keep it with me for a bit longer.” She pauses a moment before asking, “Can I tell Hop now?”

Sonia chews her lip, but then Raihan asks, “Can I throw in my two pokédollars?”

“Uhm, okay,” and Sonia gestures a ‘go ahead’.

“Let her tell him. Yeah, he’s gonna be a little mad, but he’ll be more than that if he hears from someone _not_ Gloria. And it’s not like he’s not reasonable when it comes to research,” Raihan explains. “This stuff you two did is on-par with old Professor Magnolia’s Dynamax work, so yeah, you need to be tight-lipped. But if you’re in a relationship,” and now he looks directly at Gloria, “then he deserves to know.”

It was quite a smooth volley back into Gloria’s court, though admittedly Sonia knows that Gloria wants the relationship and it’s more Hop’s reluctance that’s preventing them from moving forward, but she appreciates Raihan’s insight. As such, she says, “I think… I can’t really argue with that. It’s your choice, Gloria.”

A nod, rather vague, but looking at someone who isn’t with them at the moment. “All right. Thanks.” Then, like a switch that’s been flipped, she suddenly leans forward with a gleam in her eye. “So I don’t think I ever got the down-and-dirty about how you two started shagging. Care to share?”

“No.” “Yeah.”

Gloria’s laughter rings through the air, and Eternatus (who has been resting behind her) glances up to see what’s going on. It is apparently satisfied, because it lays its head back down.

“So who was-”

“Call from Hop! Call from Hop!”

Gloria’s Rotom startles all three of them. “That’s funny, I thought he was in the middle of work…,” but Gloria answers and gets a video screen full of raging Hop.

“What the bloody hell? What sort of dangerous, life-threatening nonsense are you and Sonia doing now?!”

Both women are flabbergasted. “What are you talking about?” Sonia asks, and in the back of her brain she thinks _I am so tired of being yelled at._

“You didn’t see the video posted online?”

All three of them make the mental jump. “Those fuckers,” Raihan swears.

“Is it the one with the Gigantamax Delibird?” Sonia asks.

“Yes, that one! What other dangerous nonsense have I missed?! What the hell are you two playing at?”

“We were doing an experiment. I thought that there was no one around, we cordoned off the area-”

“An experiment?!” and he rubs his temples with his fingers, “You give me grief over wanting to take shortcuts through the Wild Area, and _you’re_ performing tests on Gigantamax Pokémon? And pulling Gloria into it?”

“I agreed to this,” she says, immediately coming to Sonia’s defense. “I said I would help because the reason is important to Galar, and as the Champion I have an investment in the answer.”

He is not ready to be railroaded off this. “Have you two no sense? Dens were made as safety nets in case the Dynamax Pokémon went rabid! You two could have been hurt badly if it went rampaging! Thank Arceus that Raihan was there to help!”

“We’ve never been trampled in a Dynamax battle before, nor will we be,” Gloria chides him. “We were fine, and careful!”

“Glo, it would kill me if something happened to you!” and his voice hitches for a split second before he gets control back. “Think before doing something like that again!”

Sonia knew that was the linchpin of this whole conversation, and she gives Raihan a look that takes no effort to read. The two of them step away to give the younger duo a moment.

“Well, I guess the Purrloin’s out of the bag now,” she frowns. “I didn’t want this to happen.”

“Hold on a tick; let me find it,” he says, opening up WeVid and searching around while they talk. “Maybe I can get it pulled from the site.”

All of a sudden, her Rotom – not Gran’s – starts to ring. “Call from Leon! Call from Leon!”

 _Like brother, like brother_.

Raihan looks at her Rotom then to her, his eyes sharp. “You want to take it?”

She holds it in her hand, just looking at the screen flash his name and picture, and she can’t answer because she doesn’t know what to say to either man and eventually it stops ringing and she lets it float in front of her.

“Voicemail from Leon! Would you like to hear it?”

“…Yes.”

“Sonia, Gloria, it’s me! Where are you two? I saw the video – Hop sent it to me – are you two okay? Is Raihan with you? Call me back. Please call me back, Sonia, or have Raihan do it. I just… I just want to make sure you’re all right.”

His voice raises the hair on her arms, but it’s not from attraction. It’s almost a fear response; not that she’s afraid of him, but the way he sounds – worried, scared, _desperate for an answer_ – makes her realize how far gone this whole mess has become. This is about more than just her insecurities; she must be the bigger woman and call him back because he cares about her, even if he was awful at showing it before.

But the choice is taken out of her hands when Raihan’s Rotom starts to ring. “Call from Leon! Call from Leon!”

She doesn’t hesitate. “Answer it.”

He looks at her, a silent ‘are you sure’ in his expression, but finally swipes to answer. “Yo.”

“Raihan?” and Leon’s voice comes up on speaker, though Sonia can’t see if he’s on video too.

“Yeah, mate?” and sweet singing Meloetta, his voice couldn’t be any frostier than if he’d dumped it into Circhester Bay.

“Is… is Sonia there?”

“Yeah. What of it?”

“Is she all right?”

“She’s fine. Her and Gloria both.”

“Oh. Good. Thank you.”

Sonia buries her face in her hands because this conversation is so lame it should be put into the pasture, shot, and thrown into the Slumbering Weald for a graceless burial. “Oh, for heaven’s sake,” and she tilts the Rotom towards her and sees that Raihan only had it on speakerphone. “Leon, I’m here. Thank you for the concern.”

“Sonia,” he says, and his voice is softer, warmer, radiating an energy that she’d never heard before and thinks that she would have died to have heard it when she wasn’t the person she is now. “I’m glad you’re well. I was terribly worried.”

“I know. Gloria informed me of your concerns. And Raihan enlightened me to the fact that you couldn’t have been _that_ concerned if you had time to denigrate my abilities in front of the Gym Leaders.”

A slightly strangled sound from the other end of the phone, and Sonia glares at Raihan because the smirk he’s wearing is not very sportsmanlike. “I’m sorry,” he says, and maybe means it.

“I’m sure you are. Where are you?”

The question throws both men for a loop. “At home. Why?”

“We’re coming over in a bit. We need to talk.”

“We are?” Raihan asks, too surprised to keep his voice down, and Leon matches it with an equally dumbfounded, “You are? You both?”

“Are you busy today?”

“No, I’m free. I’m just… taken a bit aback. But I’d be glad to see you. See you both.”

“I’m sure,” Raihan drawls.

“We are _both_ going,” she says, giving her boyfriend another glare, before finishing with, “We have something to finish first, but we’ll be over in an hour or so.”

“That’s… fine. Great. I’ll see you then.”

“Goodbye,” and she hangs up his Rotom. “There. Now we can go visit as a group.”

Raihan looks like he’d rather hang around Eternatus than go through this. “I’m on pins and needles.”

“I knew you’d be excited,” she says with dripping sarcasm to match his tone. “If you don’t want to kiss and make up, that’s all well and good, but Rose told me I needed to talk with him, so I’m going to do it whether you’re there or not.”

“Conniving minx,” he growls, and Sonia just lets him get his frustration out because it’s not that he hates his best friend but getting the two of them to play nice is going to take some clever manipulation on her part so he can be a little mad and there’s no harm, no foul.

They head back to Gloria, who looks a little misty-eyed. Before she can say anything, Sonia immediately blurts out, “I’m sorry. I really meant to let you tell him.”

“I said I’d wanted to tell him, but I’m not sure he believes me.”

“Suppose you should go see your lad, then. Clear the air.”

A vague nod; Sonia assumes that Gloria was planning on doing just that anyway. “So what do we tell people who come a-calling?”

“Tell them… tell them that we were performing experiments that, at this time, cannot be disclosed. I will shut them down best I can, if you can too.”

“Of course. A Champion has to be able to keep secrets. Come on back, Gyarados, Eternatus. Zacian, lets go for a run.”

She returns the other two as she tosses out Zacian, then climbs on the Legendary wolf’s back. It’s so tall that it must bend down to help her up. Once on, Gloria gives the duo a little wave. “Let’s have a chat later. I still want details, you know.”

“Stop by the lab when you have a chance!” Sonia yells as the two of them go dashing off, running like a rainbow over the earth, and for a moment she wishes she could be riding, too, could have been someone amazing who earned the right to ride a Hero.

But she’s not. She’s just Sonia, and she’s got something she has to do. She looks at Raihan, waiting for his answer. “Are you coming?”

He lets out a huff of a breath. “Don’t give me those eyes, sweetheart.”

“What?”

“Like you think I’m going to leave you alone.”

“Oh,” and she realizes that a piece of her was bracing for that, waiting for the rejection. But… it also feels different. Like, he wouldn’t be rejecting _her_ , just the choice she’s offering. That difference feels important. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean – I really would be fine if you weren’t up for it.”

“You think you’d be just fine and dandy around Leon by yourself?”

She tilts her head up in thought. “Yes, I do.”

“No. You had a bloody panic attack the last time the two of you were alone. I’m coming with. I still feel like having a scrap… but we go together.”

She calls for a Taxi; Flygon has been ferrying Raihan all over the damn region, and Sonia doesn’t want to make it work any harder than it has to. “Where to, miss?”

“Take us to Wyndon.”

* * *

Since there’s not much to do outside of lean against Raihan and wait for the Taxi to land, Sonia goes through her texts. Some are quick one-offs from friends or a few of the other Gym Leaders, but others are not.

Mum: **Hi, honey. Just checking in. Glad that you have good friends helping you. Let me know when you are home**

Mum: **Hi, dear. Just checking in. I love you**

And so forth during her entire self-exile. She’s grateful for her mother’s understanding.

Nessa: **Hey girl**

Nessa: **What a cock-up mess huh**

Nessa: **Still not back? That’s fine**

Nessa: **But when you’re ready we need to talk**

Raihan himself had left her a single text before he figured out the new number; a benign ‘You OK?’, and then the week-long time skip before Sonia writes and asks him to join her at the testing site.

Then she gets to the most recent texter, and her body immediately jumps into Fight or Flight mode. This is the only conversation that Gloria takes an active role.

Leon: **Sonia where are you**

Leon: **Please answer me**

Leon: **I want to talk about what you said**

Leon: **This isnt funny anymore where are you**

Leon: **Sonia talk to me**

Leon: **Please call back**

Leon: **Where are you**

Gloria: **You know I have her phone, right?**

Leon: **Whos this**

Gloria: **Gloria. I’m holding Sonia’s Rotom for her while she’s out**

Leon: **So what happens if she gets hurt how will you know**

Gloria: **I have my ways**

Gloria: **Magic** **Champion Ways**

Gloria: **She asked for you to be patient**

Gloria: **And, to be clear, she will come back**

Gloria: **I can only pretend to be her for a little while**

Leon: **You dont get it she told me something serious**

Leon: **Had a huge breakdown scared me witless**

Leon: **Then just up and disappeared**

Leon: **How is that fair**

Leon: **Why are you taking her side**

Gloria: **Maybe it’s not about being fair**

Gloria: **Maybe you both need to get a grip and learn to respect each other**

Gloria: **You are particularly bad at communicating**

Gloria: **Try listening next time**

The burn is white-hot and humiliating, but not undeserved. Apparently, this is also the point where he must have gotten into the fight with Raihan because it’s another two days before he replies.

Leon: **Youre right i just want to leave a message for when she comes back**

Gloria: **I’m going to read it so don’t say anything you don’t want me to know**

Leon: **Sonia im sorry**

Leon: **I probably should be sorry for alot of things but i think i get it now**

Leon: **When youre ready to talk i want to listen**

Leon: **Good night**

And he writes it every night since then as the only attempt at communication. No push, no demands, just a simple ‘good night’.

 _But what do I do with this?_ She thinks, tapping her nail on the side of Rotom. She could ask Raihan his opinion but decides against it because he looks all levels of put-upon right now and she doesn’t want to make it worse.

 _I just want to be friends again. Be someone important… but how? How can I love him like a friend when I… still feel more?_ She lets out a deep sigh.

“You all right?”

She doesn’t know how to answer that. “I want to be his friend. But I don’t know how to do that without wanting more. I don’t know how to separate friendship from… desire, I guess.”

“That brain-thought-path we talked about before,” he says, his voice devoid of judgment. “Honestly, Sonia, I don’t have a great answer. I mean… I don’t know what I’d be like if you turned me down. I don’t know if I could be around you, at least not until I learned to stop wanting you.”

It hurts to think about from her side, too, because she could have just as easily turned him down as accepted his proposition.

“So I think we’re just going to have to walk into this blind and see what we run into.”

The use of the word ‘we’ gives her a little reminder that the whole reason why this is such a problem is because she’s starting to care about Raihan in a way that she hadn’t before. And she’s not sure she _loves_ him, because what she feels for him is certainly not the way she feels for Leon… but comparing the two also feels wrong because she’s not sure she really loves Leon, either.

Getting trampled by the Gigantamax Delibird would have solved so many problems.

Finally, the Taxi lands in Wyndon and the two of them have to make the walk.

Leon’s living near the Battle Tower; there’s a new apartment construction, which looks freakishly expensive, and Raihan already knows his flat number. There is a concierge/security desk right at the entrance, and this is unexpected because she really hoped that she could go up there without a fuss but that looks unlikely now.

“Whom are you visiting?”

“Leon Terrene.”

“What is your name?”

“Sonia Magnolia.”

“Raihan Mirazdya.”

The concierge taps on his computer screen, makes them spell their names, before he finally nods. “Mr. Terrene has you both as acceptable guests. Please step through here and take the lift to the 25th floor. When you arrive, please turn to your right, and his apartment is 2501.”

They follow the directions, which are stupid-simple and likely made that way because Leon himself would have picked the easiest apartment to reach. Her stomach is turning itself inside-out while her heart starts to run faster than it should, and though Raihan’s expression is calm his stance is defensive and tight as they stand in front of his door.

There’s a doorbell to the side, and since Raihan looks like he’d rather be anywhere but here, Sonia rings it.

She literally hears a handful of thumps coming from inside the flat before his door flings open and he’s standing there, wearing casual clothes instead of the usual red jacket affair, with wide eyes like he’s looking into a Gengar’s mouth before he really sees both of them.

“Hey,” she says.

That’s all she gets out because he rushes forward and grabs her, hugs her, holds her against him with arms that protected Galar for fifteen years but now shake as if she’s the strength that he’s needed, as if she’s what has been keeping him standing for all this time. She can’t even move her arms up to hug him back because he has her pinned in place.

“Thank the stars you’re all right!”

She is trapped between the warmth he radiates and the fire that stands at her back but says nothing because this is something she has to do, and she’s so afraid of messing up again but she can’t she has to be strong and be the person she wants to be.

“I never… after your attack, I was so worried about you, wondering what you were doing, when you’d be back, and Gloria didn’t understand because she didn’t see you like that, and I just kept thinking ‘what if something happened and no one was there to help’?”

 _I had Raihan,_ and she it’s like someone released the grip on her voice because she finally can speak. “Leon, I’m fine. Do you mind…?”

And he pulls away and she carefully slides out of his arms and bumps her back against Raihan’s chest and he puts a hand on her shoulder that Leon finally sees and she watches his expression go from sun to stone.

“I know I asked already, but,” and she pauses because she can’t walk in his home if he won’t accept them both, “can we come in?”

But she should have known better because Leon has always been honorable, has always been a good sport and a phenomenal sportsman who could lose with grace even when he wanted to scream, and he opens the door so she can take that first step into his home, and Raihan follows barely a breath behind.

She pulls off her hat and shoes and drops her bag onto the ground; Raihan rests his things and Flygon’s saddle right next to hers.

“Are either of you hungry? Thirsty? Can I get you anything?”

If the press ever saw the impressive ex-Champion of Galar this flustered, they’d laugh themselves to death. Mostly it makes her feel exhausted, but she accepts because it seems rude to refuse. “I’ll take some water.”

“I’m fine,” Raihan says, and Sonia suspects he’d want some too if the two weren’t at such odds right now but whatever.

She takes a moment to look around his apartment. It doesn’t surprise her in the least at how expensive everything looks; she’d bet that a week here is probably the same as three months of mortgage payments on Gran’s house. There’s the giant front room with floor-to-ceiling windows giving an amazing view of Wyndon, like being in a Flying Taxi without rest, and beautifully plush couches for entertaining. To the right, she can see stairs leading up to a penthouse bedroom, and to the left is a dining room and kitchen big enough to have its own staff. It almost makes her drool in envy because her kitchen is fine and functional but dear Dialgia, having all these things would make cooking so much fun.

But the one thing that sticks out most to her is how _barren_ the apartment looks. There’s nothing personal around; no paintings or pictures, minimal color scheme on the walls, hardly any personal affects except a stray Pokémon toy here and there. She realizes that she’s never been to his apartment before, even while he was the Champion, and it hurts to see how empty his world is. How alone he must be, must have been for years.

“Where are your Pokémon?”

“Resting upstairs,” he says as he brings her a glass, then gestures to the couch. “Please, make yourself at home.”

Sonia can almost hear Raihan snort but he’s playing nice and she’s grateful because she doesn’t want to deal with them sniping at each other. It might still happen, but she needs to try and clear the air.

She is tempted to sit on the loveseat by herself, spread her legs and have some space to deal with them, but ultimately sits in the middle of the largest couch. It is no surprise that they both drop down to either side of her, Raihan leaning back into the cushions like he’s hoping to be swallowed up though his leg is pressed against hers, while Leon leans forward with the same jumpy, skittish energy of a newly-hatched Deerling. Apparently, she’s got to be the one in control and, given how much of a wretched mess she’s been these past two weeks, that cannot bode well for any of them.

“Are you all right?” he asks again.

“I’m fine,” she says, but upon seeing the look on his face she keeps going. “Gloria and I went to do some testing with Eternatus. I caught a Delibird, performed a few experiments on it, and despite our best efforts, someone must have been recording everything.”

“Why? What were you hoping to understand?”

“How Dynamax testing works. How Gigantamaxing can be induced by Eternatus. A few things. Mostly because the fact that Galar particle levels are still sky-high makes me concerned that the levels may continue to rise, and then we will have a repeat of the Darkest Day. I’m just trying to take care of Galar in my own way, you know.”

It’s odd being so vulnerable around him like this. Really telling him what she, on a professional level, is doing with her life. _Perhaps because he never asked. He never wanted to know._

The silence hangs over the trio like daggers from a thread, threatening to end all of this, and Sonia knows that she’s the only one who can move. “Leon… I think we need to talk. No, more like I need to talk, and I want you to listen. And that goes for you too, Raihan.”

Both men are staring at her, blues and golds as distant as stars in the sky, and she doesn’t really know what to say but she has to start somewhere so she might as well start where things went wrong.

“I left the lab because I knew you wouldn’t listen when I said I needed time, that I needed to work through my feelings before I could talk to you again. And I was right.” She looks at Leon. “You didn’t. You came by, you called, you did everything you could to try and force me to talk to you. To make this about only your feelings and not mine.”

He purses his lips and he looks like he wants to speak but he says nothing and so Sonia looks out a window and keeps talking to get everything out. “I know it was out of care and concern because what happened to me was just awful and something no one should have to experience. I really, genuinely appreciate that you wanted to know I was well again. But the thing that really bothers me is that you’d have never done that before. It’s only after I told you about all the feelings I’d bottled up that you had wanted to be a part of my life.” She looks at him now, and she’s afraid she might cry as her voice drops to a whisper. “Why couldn’t you care about me before?”

“I always cared, Sonia,” he says, sounding distraught.

She hears Raihan shift, and she holds up a hand and whatever he wants to say disappears. “Then why did you always leave? Why was it so easy to walk away from me?”

“It wasn’t! It never was.”

 _You made it look so effortless._ “If you cared, why didn’t you ever come when I needed you?”

There’s one thing that she’s never brought up before, but this is as good a time as any if he is going to profess such a lie.

“Where were you when Gran died?”

When Professor Elizabeth Magnolia died, most of Galar came by to pay their respects during the wake, which took place at her house. Sonia had already started to take over most of the day-to-day upkeep of the mansion and Gran herself after the stroke, so she knew ahead of time that Gran had wanted no more hospitalizations, absolutely no fuss made when she died, and no fancy funeral but only a simple burial in the cemetery. Which, while seemingly simple on the outside, was not like that when it came down to the details.

Because literally hundreds of people came by the day of the wake to pay their respects, and Sonia had to take care of all that. Gym Leaders, politicians, mayors, scientists, all the way down to “Liz’s” childhood friends from school; they were _so many people._ Her father and aunt received everyone, graciously hosting though they were certainly grieving, while Sonia worked behind the scenes to keep finger foods on the tables, bottled water by the door, facial tissues on every flat surface, the crowd moving through the house to pay their respects and say their final goodbyes to the woman lying in the simple wooden box in the sitting room. Not only was there no time for her to feel anything, she also had to stand there every now and then and thank people for their condolences even though all she wanted was to be alone.

The thing that saved her had been her friends. Sonia called Nessa on the night that Gran died and begged for help, and she dropped her Gym work like a hot Torkoal to sleep with her that night so Sonia wouldn’t feel so alone in that big empty house and cry to herself with only the walls to hear. She also stayed overnight for the next few days without being asked, automatically took it upon herself to help at the wake, moving like a gentle brook through the rooms to handle the details while Sonia spoke to mourners or her professional coworkers and the like. And it was Nessa who demanded that she call Leon the night before the wake for help, because he certainly knew about Gran’s death – everyone did!

But he couldn’t come to help, had profusely apologized because there was an issue ( _there were always issues_ ) and so she called Raihan and he was there by 6AM the next morning helping in any way he could, telling Sonia to take a nap when the flow had banked for just a half-hour, running out to the market for more food and drinks for the evening visitors, and after the doors were closed and the house had been cleaned and her dad and aunt were back at their respective homes with their own pain, both Nessa and Raihan stayed the night and it felt good to have her friends at her back when she needed them the most.

And Leon wasn’t there. He had stopped by to pay his respects and was out the door within a half-hour. Even Gloria stayed longer than that; chatting people up and reminiscing with visitors to offer Sonia some respite from the questions that she didn’t want to answer and feelings she couldn’t afford to confront right now. He wasn’t _there_ like Nessa and Raihan had been.

By the look on his face, he remembers that. For the little it’s worth, he knows better than to try and defend himself.

Sonia softly asks, “Do you even remember what you had to do that was so important you couldn’t come to help me instead?”

“Something with Cosmos Air,” he answers in an equally soft voice, their heads bent towards each other. “Malfunctioning component in recent engines; one of the fan belts was wearing down faster than normal, snapping off when overheated. Questions about how to fix it before people died or there were crashes or whatnot.” Now he looks up at her, quiet sorrow in his eyes. “It still could have waited. I should have been there.”

“Doesn’t really matter now, does it?” Sonia says, and she follows all this with a sharp stab of words. “So you can say you care, and maybe even feel like you do, but actions speak louder than words. Gran’s still dead, and you weren’t there for me.”

Those five words echo in the room, and the stars he has for eyes are make dark from clouds of regret.

“Words are pretty loud, too,” Raihan says casually. “I told her about the fight, and how you said she wasn’t much of a professional. A lot of caring there, too.”

She didn’t really want Raihan to chime in yet, and the scowl that Leon throws him over her head tells her that he isn’t particularly happy about the intrusion either. Still, she’s willing to listen to his side because she had her chance to air the dirty laundry and now it’s his turn.

“I didn’t mean it,” he finally says. “It’s just… I’d felt like a wreck this past week wondering and worrying about you. I wanted to feel justified in my frustration, even if I wasn’t.”

“You weren’t. And that bloody _hurt_ , because I might not be a professor for as long as you were Champion, but I like to think I’m good at my job. Apparently, you disagree.”

“You are, Sonia; you’re a wonderful professor. I’m so sorry; I truly am, for being so thoughtless.”

She believes him even though the words don’t sound very satisfying.

“Are we done here?” Raihan asks loudly, and she is going to have to smack him with a pillow if he keeps this up. Even though none of them are reconciling the way she wants, she is just going to have to learn to live with it because there’s something else that needs to be done.

“No, we’re not,” she says sharply, and turns to look at Leon again. “I have one more thing to talk to you about.”

He doesn’t look particularly happy to be talking with her any further, considering the emotional beat-down she’s just given him, but he nods and she continues.

“So I went to see Rose in prison.”

“What?” he asks sharply, turning to face her and a look of sharp disbelief coloring his expression. “Sonia, what in the name of Palkia’s good earth would possess you to do that?” Now he looks at Raihan. “Did you know-”

“Oh, like I could stop her? Bloody hell, mate,” he says with a snap in his voice, almost sulking into the cushions. “I didn’t know, though – not that it would have made a damn difference.”

She doesn’t want to pick a fight with Raihan in front of Leon; she very purposefully allows his reply to disappear into the air. “I had some questions about Dynamaxing and Eternatus that I was hoping he could answer. Turns out, he won’t.”

“What do you mean? He can’t remember things?”

“Oh, no. I’m sure he probably remembers quite a bit. No, he is simply being ridiculously unforthcoming with any answers to questions I ask. So this brings me to the original reason why I wanted to visit,” and their dynamic changes for the first time, her coming to him with questions that she hopes he can answer. “Rose specifically said that you may be able to answer some of them for me.”

He was obviously not prepared for her to say that. “Me?! I don’t understand. I never talked with him about any of that!”

“He said you did,” and she follows it up by saying, “Though he might be lying. But he said to me, and I quote, ‘you, of all people, may be able to tease some information from him’.”

Now he leans back and rubs his hand over his mouth before leaning his chin on his fist. He’s giving it some genuine thought, which Sonia appreciates, because even though Rose might be full of rubbish, she thinks he’s not. Something about the way he brought it up, about mentioning Leon and being so oddly specific… Sonia can’t put her finger on it, since she’s no psychic, but she goes with her gut and thinks that he was telling some amount of truth.

“I… may remember a few things,” he says slowly. “It might not be much, though. It’s been years, quite literally.”

Now Raihan is leaning forward, his ire forgotten, as Sonia puts down her mostly-empty glass. “Rotom, record,” she immediately says, and her Rotom pops from her pocket and starts videotaping them sitting there. “Tell me everything.”

He gives a jerky nod, then speaks.

* * *

_I went to visit Rose for some reason or another. I don’t remember why, but I remember we were in Rose Tower, and he was in his office. Hop and Gloria had just passed the Hulbury Gym Challenge. But we talked about how all the Challengers were doing. Nothing specific._

_But then he asked something a bit… odd. He asked, “Leon, have you given much thought to the future of Galar?”_

_“Well, yes. I’m always thinking of how to help the newest generation of Pokémon trainers.”_

_“Admirable, as I would expect from our grand Champion. But I’m afraid that what I am referring to is Galar as a whole. Do you ponder its future?”_

_“No, not particularly. Why do you ask?”_

_“Ah, it is something that weighs heavy on my chest. To think that all the work we have done now may amount to nothing.”_

_“What do you mean, nothing? You don’t see the brilliance in the people who are here now?”_

_“I am being too vague, I fear. No, I mourn a Galar that will not survive the next millennia.”_

_“Aren’t you being a bit… overzealous?”_

_“One does not become great by not considering all possibilities. And I intend to see that Galar remains great for all time, regardless of who or what must be sacrificed. Would you be willing to assist me in this endeavor?”_

_It was such a peculiar turn-of-phrase. I don’t remember what I said. Perhaps yes. Perhaps I changed the subject._

_We had a talk the night before he re-created the Darkest Day, but he didn’t mention Eternatus at that time. Hop and Gloria came up to find us – I was late for dinner. Before they arrived, though, he was talking about how darkness is necessary to see light. That I was to assist him the next day by joining him at the Energy Plant while he and his team – yes, it was quite vague, and I didn’t press for further details – unveiled the newest source of sustainable energy. But I was so focused on the Tournament that I rebuffed him over and over._

_What sticks out most clearly to me, though, is when I saw him at the Energy Plant when it all happened. As I headed to the lift to catch Eternatus, he said, “I don’t regret what I’ve done, Leon, but what has been opened can never be undone. Either become its trainer, or become the fuel for its fire.”_

_And that was the last time I ever spoke to him._

* * *

Sonia leans back, her excitement fading as she rewatches the video. He’s helping, trying desperately hard to do so, but there’s no obvious key within the words. Either he doesn’t remember something specific that Rose told him… or there was truly nothing noteworthy and she’s just been given the runaround for a lark.

“Anything else?” she tries one final time.

“I’m afraid not,” he says regretfully.

“Not much,” Raihan says, but there’s no meanness to it. He mostly sounds resigned.

“It’s fine. You did a great deal, in light of the years between then and now. Thank you,” and then she sighs. “I suppose I’ve wasted enough of your time.”

“Sonia,” and he takes her hand, “regardless of how I’ve acted before, I need you to understand something. You aren’t a waste of my time. Not then, not now. And if you need me, I’ll be here to help.”

He radiates genuine energy, as bright as a comet and so, so eager to do right. So ready to give her something to prove himself. But the trouble isn’t that she ever questioned that goodness, that heart of gold.

It’s that it never seemed to find her problems important enough to help solve.

But maybe… maybe she can give him the chance. Maybe she can help him be the kind of friend she needs, and in the process it will let her see him as a friend instead that special something that wasn’t ever going to happen anyway.

So she leans forward and dots a kiss on his cheek before leaning back and letting go of his hand. He looks shocked by the display of softness, like he’d been touched by something mythical or magical.

“Thank you, Leon. It… means a lot to me. But I think I should go now. I’ve not been at the lab in over a week, and there’s plenty for me to do.” And she purposefully turns to her left and offers her hand to Raihan. “Shall we?”

“We shall,” he says with a relieved smile, one little fang peaking out, and takes her hand. She doesn’t really help him up, because she couldn’t move him even with a damn Copperajah helping, but he hops up as Leon gets to his feet, too. They make their awkward way to the door, the two men glaring at each other, and Sonia pretends not to see it as she gets her things together.

She turns to Leon. “Thank you, again, for all your help. And for worrying over me. I won’t let that happen again. Promise.”

“Good. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t hurt to watch you like that, knowing that I could do nothing to help.”

“I’ll be fine. It was good to see you again.”

She and Raihan are walking out towards the elevator when he blurts out, “Sonia?”

“Yes?” she turns around.

He stands in the doorway, at the cusp of his own change. A glance up at Raihan, then back down to her. “Are you happy?”

The smile that rises to her lips comes from something deeper, almost an impulse that she can’t control, and it fills her with pleasure that Raihan is the one who inspires this reflex. “Yes. And even when I’m not… I’m happier than I was.”

“Then… that’s all that matters, isn’t it,” he says, and for the faintest second she can see a wisp of yearning in his eyes.

_Oh Leon, I’d have shared all this with you if you just tried a little harder._

“Yes, it is.”

He nods, then looks at Raihan. “Take care of her.”

It’s his own kind of reflex; Raihan reaches down and twines his fingers through hers. “Don’t need you to tell me that.”

“Good,” and he smiles for the first time since they’ve arrived. “Looking forward to seeing you both again.”

“Me too,” and she means it, and they reach the lift as Leon shuts his door. The duo are silent as they ride it down, too trapped in their own minds to talk, but after she flags down a Taxi, she turns to him. “Come back to Wedgehurst with me.”

He squeezes her hand. “Let’s go home, sweetheart.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes (06/22/2020): The hiatus is over, for myself and the Triad.
> 
> So one of the things I didn't go into for this equivalent chapter in Your World Was Not Mine is this whole issue with the former Professor Magnolia. I actually went and changed part of [Your World's] Chapter 8 in order to properly align with this chapter, because I felt that such a recent abandonment on Leon's part after her Gran's death is a HUGE issue for both myself and Sonia. But... Sonia is giving him a chance to mend the rifts, both here and in Your World.
> 
> Thank you again for everyone who reads my story. I love hearing any comments or thoughts you may have, and I hope you continue to enjoy the direction this is going.


	10. Tear My World to Shreds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Leon is no longer the Champion and things are changing for the younger generation, perhaps the future will shift in a direction that Sonia has never expected. When she decides to accept an invitation to go out dancing with Nessa and Raihan, she finds out that there may be more than one dream and more than one kind of happiness.
> 
> Chapter 10: Her Pokémon suddenly feels heavy and she remembers that Gardevoir can negate gravity with their mental powers and this weight, this weight on her arms and legs means that there’s not enough power to do that and she just asked so much of her Pokémon that there’s nothing left inside and Gardevoir’s not singing, not moving, not breathing.
> 
> A tremor runs through her as she realizes 'my Gardevoir is dead'.
> 
> This is the divergence from my first story 'Your World Was Not Mine (Your Eyes Told Me So)', and will run parallel to the original.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Musical Accompaniment: "Requiem", by Roger Subirana. Best read starting from Sonia being alone in the Energy Plant after Raihan heads upstairs, and goes to the end of the chapter. It can be replayed as often as necessary, as it fits the mood of the mid-to-latter half of the chapter.
> 
> Thanks again to DezyPhresh for her help in beta-ing.

Sonia spent the rest of Saturday and Sunday either at home or cleaning up the lab. Nothing was particularly _dirty_ or even out of place – Gloria kept things in good order – but just reorganizing her life after this new influx of information helped make the world a little more stable. Raihan stayed the night on Saturday but headed back to Hammerlocke on Sunday. He made a very convincing case for her to join him, but she declined despite the warmth he brought to her stomach and the kisses he dotted on her skin.

“You’re coming on by on Monday, anyway. Would be easier to just walk down the street with me.”

“Maybe, but I really do need to clean up the rubbish of my life since I’ve been gone. And I miss my home.”

He seemed to get the implication and didn’t push her further before heading off. Her bulletin board now has a new section dealing with Eternatus and implications of its existence. Still, she knows she needs more data if she’s going to try to make sense of the Dynamax patterns or get insight into Rose’s words.

Hence, this trip.

When she hops out of the Taxi, Raihan is already standing there. They’re wearing their professional masks, though he grins at her and gives her a hug as they meet up.

“Hey, Miss Clever Clogs,” he says. “Missed you.”

“I’m sure you did. A whole twenty-four hours, and you just can’t get by. Now who’s gagging?”

“Could be you if we get a few minutes alone,” he whispers in her ear, and she smacks him in the chest. “Ow, abuse!”

“Big strong lad like yourself, don’t make me laugh,” she snorts as they walk into the castle. “Now, let’s get down to business.”

“Yeah, you weren’t all that clear about what you needed.”

“I need to get into the Energy Plant, and only you and Gloria can get down there. Would you be able to help me?”

“Not a problem,” and he pulls a badge from his hoodie pocket, presses it against a keypad, and the door opens to a lift. “Ladies first.”

“Let me know if you see one,” and she goes in at the same time he does.

When they get downstairs, a little hum of anxiety goes through her. Something about this place feels so off-putting, and even though she knows that nothing is here, there’s a tiny voice in her head screaming about how an evil demon is hiding around the corner. She glances over at Raihan, who’s expression is now closer to a scowl than anything, and he leads her into the area where Eternatus had been kept – and then escaped.

She pulls out Rotom and sets it to ‘Record’ and turns to him so she can both explain the situation and think aloud. “The point of the meeting today is to more thoroughly ascertain details on how Rose kept Eternatus hidden down here, and what he’d been doing. Hammerlocke is the oldest city in the region, and the Energy Plant had been built beneath the castle – now the stadium. Rose himself actually concocted the idea of the Plant, founding Macro Cosmos about 27 years ago, which has allowed Galar to transition from gas to electric and solar energy via the use of Galar particles.”

“You’re on the nose so far,” Raihan nodded, falling into the role of Guardian of the Vault. “If the question you’re asking is, when the hell did he get Eternatus down here, I can only give you a best guess answer. The Plant was fully completed in ‘96, and Gloria won the Championship in ’15, so it had to have happened somewhere in there, with a personal lean that it was closer to ’15.”

“Did you ever come down here?”

He looks thoughtful. “Now that you mention it, I did. When I took over Hammerlocke in ’08 from Citra, she took me down here and gave me a history lesson on it. But there’s no way that Eternatus was here at that time. All this,” and he gestures at the now-broken glass and discarded hoses and wires, “would have been damn hard to miss. But that means that he did this while I’ve been the Gym Leader. Right under my nose this whole time.”

That realization hits Raihan harder than Sonia would have liked, and his whole stance radiates a tight, defensive anger. But there’s nothing she can say to make it easier, so she keeps talking to get the subject farther away. “He had to find it, first. And since it could have been literally anywhere in Galar… why didn’t he put it in Wyndon?” and that question starts poking at her. “That’s a funny thought. Why would a man who is so protective of Galar and pre-released Eternatus keep it here?”

“It’s where the Energy Plant is. It can directly supply Galar particles to the Plant.”

“Yes, I agree. But… why didn’t he put the Energy Plant in Wyndon? He lived there. It would be so easy to get away with anything in his own backyard.”

“Rose Tower wasn’t built until ’10. There wasn’t any place to hide a giant cosmic horror of a Pokémon in Wyndon. Remember – Gloria’s the only person to catch it. It was just floating in… whatever the hell this thing was until Rose released it.”

“By feeding it Wishing Stars until it exploded everything,” Sonia nodded. “That makes sense. But I still wonder if there’s something more to the question.”

“You want to try and talk with Rose again?”

“No, he made it quite clear that he has nothing to give me.”

“Think he’d talk if we beat him into a mess?”

“Sounds satisfying. Very illegal, too.”

Raihan tsks his tongue. “Well, how about Oleana?”

“No, but I will have to, I suppose. I wanted to come here first, though, and really see if there’s more hidden down here than just broken equipment.”

“You’re welcome to scavenge. Watch your fingers, though – the shards are sharp.”

“How come this hasn’t been cleaned up? Excuse my bluntness, but….”

“Can’t find any companies willing to do it,” he shrugs. “I’ve thought about doing it myself, but there’s a lot of heavy stuff here and I’m not even sure where to put it. A landfill? A Garbodor? Ugh, imagine imbuing one with more Eternatus energy – you’d get another Gigantamax Garbodor or worse. So I’ve not had much of a choice but to leave it here. I’ve swept up and pushed things to the side, just so engineers can access the Energy Towers, but that’s the best I could do. And I’m not about to push this onto my apprentices or anyone else, so… here you are.”

She nods and bends down to study a large piece of the containment unit. “If you have duties upstairs, feel free to go. I’ll text when I’m ready to come back.”

“Yeah, no. Not too keen on leaving you down here alone.”

“Thank you, Rai, but I’ll be fine. I won’t do anything too stupid today.”

“Still not inspiring a lot of confidence in me, sweetheart.”

A grin, far too sassy for anyone’s good, and she says, “Professor Magnolia has this under control. Go do important Gym Leader things.”

He grumbles a minute more before heading back up the lift, and Sonia is left alone. With no one around, she summons Gardevoir. The Pokémon sings in a dark, minor key as she looks around the room, then at Sonia.

“I know this isn’t a great place to be, but I need some help,” she says. “I know you can see the future, but can you see the past? Could you use Future Sight but go into the past while being in here?” It’s a weird question, but Pokémon have talents that people don’t ever try and tap; while precognition is a known talent of Gardevoir, who’s to say that they can’t have retrocognition or psychometry? It’s no good in a battle but would be a godsend for a detective or history buff. May as well give it a shot.

Another song, traveling up and down like she’s walking over mountains, and Gardevoir floats up onto the broken pedestal that housed Eternatus’ unit. At first nothing happens, but Sonia stays quiet because these things take time and she points Rotom at Gardevoir. Then, all of a sudden, the room changes, pulses with dark shadows and energy, and both she and Gardevoir disappear as things begin running backwards.

She watches a 15-year-old Gloria and Hop run backwards from the second lift to Rose, moving in reverse at twice the speed of life, and watches a fascinating battle between Rose and Gloria before she disappears up the Hammerlocke Stadium lift, then watches Hop lose to Rose before he disappears up the same lift. Soon enough, Leon comes running backwards, stops to yell at Rose for a few seconds _he was right, there wasn’t much of a conversation at that time_ before he goes backwards into the first lift. For a few moments, Rose is alone in the room, rubbing his beard and shaking his head before he runs down from the Stadium lift.

And now Sonia watches as blood-red light fills the room, and then there’s Eternatus, swimming through the space and roaring with uncontrolled power and there’s too much going on to keep track of it all and now she sees there are bodies of Macro Cosmos employees on the floor when there weren’t before, and then there’s a flash of white light as the containment unit remakes itself into a giant glass-like ball that is shaking and shifting with that same red light and everyone goes from looking unconscious to alive but panicked to less afraid, until finally she watches as one employee starts picking up Wishing Stars from a little machine and she figures out that this must have been how they kick-started Eternatus because before that, she watches everyone slowly disappear until only Eternatus remains floating in stasis, the numbers on the computer unremarkable green lines and numbers. Time speeds up and she has no idea how long it’s down there until they move so fast into the past that all Sonia can pick out from the vision is Eternatus in the chamber before it’s broken down and she catches a glimpse of a giant rock and her eyes are drawn to the redness threaded through it that pulses with malice and it almost looks alive

And then Gardevoir lets out a tiny little cry and the illusion breaks and she falls forward in slow motion onto the ground. Sonia isn’t fast enough to catch her Pokémon, but she immediately runs to her side and lovingly cradles her in her lap.

“You did so good, Gardevoir! That was amazing! You’re amazing! I’m so proud of you!”

Gardevoir sings a weak little trill, but before Sonia can do anything, she starts to turn red. Red, like the light from Eternatus. So red that it’s like her Pokémon is bleeding even though _Pokémon don’t bleed_ and she grabs a Max Revive and shoves it right on Gardevoir’s chest, talking about how everything will be fine, she’ll take Gardevoir home and get her some rest and sweets and she can retire and spend the rest of her days in the garden because she’s worked so hard and done so much

But the Max Revive doesn’t work and the red starts to disappear and Gardevoir isn’t moving _why isn’t she moving why isn’t this working_? “Come on, girl, you can do it, you’ll be fine, I promise you’ll be fine, I’m right here and I’ll take care of you.” And then the light is gone.

Her Pokémon suddenly feels heavy and she remembers that Gardevoir can negate gravity with their mental powers and this weight, this weight on her arms and legs means that there’s not enough power to do that and she just asked so much of her Pokémon that there’s nothing left inside and Gardevoir’s not singing, not moving, not breathing.

A tremor runs through her as she realizes _my Gardevoir is dead._

She doesn’t know what to do. Does she try to put her back in the pokéball? Should she call Raihan, because he’s here and can help her take Gardevoir to the Pokémon Center? Gloria, the Champion? Leon, because he knows things about Pokémon that she could only dream of? _What do I do?_

She pulls her away from the pedestal and the wreckage and nearer to the lift, but it’s harder than it looks because Gardevoir is almost as big as she is, and it feels so _wrong_ to be literally dragging the body of her beloved Pokémon but _I don’t know what to do._ She pulls out the pokéball, but her hand is still shaking and she doesn’t know if she wants to recall it because someone else needs to see this, needs to see that her Pokémon just made the ultimate sacrifice to her Trainer, and Sonia doesn’t think she deserved that gift.

She needs to call Raihan; plain and simple.

“Stop recording, Rotom,” she whispers. “Text Raihan.”

“I’m listening.”

“Help me.”

“Ready to send?”

“… Yes.”

“Done. Any other messages?”

“Text… Leon.”

“I’m listening.”

“I need help. Energy Plant in Hammerlocke.”

“Ready to send?”

“Yes.”

Both men immediately reply with words of concern, but Sonia can’t say what happened because this is too big, too much for simple words to handle. She just repeats her cries for help, and moments later Raihan comes rushing out of the lift.

“Sonia, what’s going on?!” and he’s got a pokéball in hand like he’s ready to fight for her and stops dead in his tracks when he sees Trainer and Pokémon on the floor. “What happened to Gardevoir?”

“I think she’s dead,” and now she’s crying when she hadn’t before but she’s sobbing into her fists while Raihan kneels down and tries her Max Revive along with a Max Potion, then a few berries, anything he can think of, but he sees what she sees, too.

“Oh Sonia, I’m so sorry,” and he immediately wraps her up in his arms, pulling both her and Gardevoir into his lap, and he is so much bigger than her that it feels like he can absorb this blow for her, take some of the pain on her behalf. He whispers his sorrow with hers, and it’s just having him here that lets her cry so freely.

The lift opens a second time and she doesn’t look up but knows that it’s Leon running in.

“What happened?” “Sonia, are you all right?”

A split second of silence; no one moves, and Sonia can only cry against Raihan’s shoulder. She tries to talk – she does – but the best she can do is look up at her friends – _Gloria’s here too!_ – and beg them for help with her eyes.

Gloria looks at Gardevoir, puts two-and-two together, and kneels down at Sonia’s side with a deliberateness usually reserved for a temple visit. Leon looks at her and Raihan and his eyes momentarily flash with something like anxiety for breaking up the moment but doesn’t say a word and doesn’t try to move closer.

It’s Raihan that moves, and he slowly releases his hold on her as if to defer this moment to Leon. He actually tries to push her away and stand up, but she just grabs his collar so tightly that he lets out a strangled sound before holding her again.

“No! You can’t go!” she half-cries, half-yells before looking at Leon. “I… please, Leon,” and she reaches out with one hand to him. She can see the conflict on his face but she doesn’t care, doesn’t care about how awkward he may feel because he promised to be here if she needed something and guess what, she needs him now as a friend to share this pain.

So he kneels down and now Sonia can grab him around the neck and make him cough in surprise and then she’s crying into the shoulders of both men and Raihan’s hand strokes her hair and Leon’s rubbing his down her back.

“Sonia, what happened?”

“Gardevoir’s dead,” she says between sobbing breaths, and his hand stills before pressing against her spine. “I asked for her help, and she died! I killed my Pokémon!”

“You didn’t-”

“I did! I asked her to help me, and it’s my fault, it was too much, and now she’s dead because I didn’t think about her and how much it would hurt her!”

A soft hand on her shoulder, a third point of light and warmth. “You’re always thinking about them,” Gloria says soothingly. “Gardevoir wouldn’t have helped if she didn’t love you the way you loved her.”

It helps and it hurts and the pain is ripping through Sonia and she can’t stop crying into their arms and with Raihan it feels like he is both holding her together and letting her fall apart, and with Leon she’s never done this before because he’s never been here for her before but she is glad he’s here because now she knows what it’s like to have him as the friend she wanted.

“I’m here,” he murmurs into her ear, “I told you I’d come if you needed me.”

She cries harder. Finally, Leon takes the pokéball and, after looking into Sonia’s eyes for agreement, carefully recalls the body. He minimizes it and puts the pokéball in Sonia’s hand before looking at her, then Raihan.

“You should find someplace nice for her to sleep.”

She’s still crying when the four of them go upstairs into Hammerlocke Stadium proper, and Raihan directs them into his office. He sends one of his apprentices for drinks as Leon helps Sonia into one chair and Gloria takes the other. By the time bottled water has been dispersed to everyone, Raihan has deferred his chair at the desk to Leon while leans against the wall near the two women. Sonia can’t quite touch his hand, but she reaches out with a foot to brush against his trainers.

“Tell us what happened,” Gloria says, not unkindly, and Sonia has enough of herself back to walk through her thought process. She explains the reverse use of Future Sight, and the illusions that Gardevoir cast that Rotom recorded. At the end, she explains what she saw when Gardevoir died, but admits that she doesn’t know what it means. Neither does anyone else.

“I’ve watched Pokémon die before,” Leon admits. “My master had a Bewear that died of old age. It just… laid down and didn’t wake up one day. He buried it, but I don’t remember any red light like you’re talking about.”

“I’ve seen one die, too. Took a really bad hit and there was no time for the Trainer to get it to a Center. No red light at that time, either,” Raihan adds in.

Gloria shakes her head. “I’ve never seen a Pokémon die. Sorry I’m no help.”

Sonia doesn’t want to mention this, but she’s going to. “Could it… could it have been caused by Eternatus? From the vision?”

All three Trainers stiffen up. “No way,” Raihan says. “Time travel? Unlikely, mate.”

“But it happened after Eternatus escaped, in our time. Did it get out?” Leon puts forth.

“I’ve had it with me ever since catching it, and I was in Wyndon before this. It’s right here, in fact,” and she points to one of the pokéballs on her belt. “Nothing happened that I know of.”

“But red light is associated with Eternatus, and so is space-time manipulation,” Sonia says.

Gloria lets out a soft sound. “I remember that. When we were fighting Eternamax Eternatus, I remember seeing all these different places, like punched-out holes in the sky that led to different parts of Galar. But it needed a lot of energy to do it, so I don’t know if it could while still in its rock.”

“I don’t remember that,” Leon says.

“Yeah, you were out of it. But I’d bet Hop would remember.”

“Let’s say it’s possible, then,” Raihan says slowly, “that the Eternatus from 5 years ago killed your Gardevoir. _How_?”

The room is silent; no one has a good answer. But Sonia knows one thing she has to do.

“Let me review the video from Rotom,” she says. “If there’s something to be found out, I’m sure it’s hidden in the video.”

Gloria holds up the pokéball in question, rolling it between her fingers. “In the meantime, I’ll do some work with Eternatus. Someplace quiet and away from other people.”

“I’ll dig deeper into Hammerlocke’s history and the Energy Plant,” Raihan says, typing onto Rotom’s screen. “And into the Darkest Day, in case there’s something subtle we missed.”

Leon looks at Sonia. “I’ll do whatever you need me to do. I’m at your mercy.”

“Then go find Oleana and talk to her about Rose,” Sonia immediately says. “She’s the only other person who could possibly know anything close to what Rose knows. I’ll give you some questions to ask her.”

“Consider it done.”

“While I hate to make this sound like a meeting,” and Gloria sighs, “should we have another get-together to compare notes later?”

“Tentative Friday, if that’s all right with everyone,” Sonia suggests, and nods around the room solidify the plan. “Then… I think I better go home. Nothing is getting done today, anyway.”

Both men move, then Leon seems to remember himself as Raihan offers Sonia his hand, and he sits back down.

“Thank you both for coming all the way from Wyndon,” Sonia says, then the question pops into her head as she looks at Gloria. “But how did you know?”

“We literally ran into each other and were having a chat when he got the text. So I followed, of course. Of course.”

“Thank you. Be sure to come by the lab, okay?”

“I’ll schedule some time soon, I promise. See you.”

As the two of them head for the door, Leon suddenly calls out. “Raihan?”

“What?” and he turns around, a look of faint annoyance on his face, but it doesn’t deter Leon.

“I’m sorry, mate.” Before Raihan can get a word in edgewise, he continues. “You were right. I was an absolute arse this past week. And… I’m sorry for the things I said. All of it.”

Sonia has _never_ heard an apology from him before. It’s not that Leon’s not sincere, but he’s never been around long enough to say sorry for anything. Raihan looks like he’s been hit with Stun Spore, but then he runs his hand through his hair and scratches the back of his neck before saying, “Yeah, me too. We pissed each other off real good, didn’t we?”

“Yeah.”

“Sorry, mate.”

“You know… I may not be a Gym Leader, but I could fill in for some of your duties right now if you need the time.”

Raihan himself seems to have an internal battle, whether or not to take up the offer, before he nods. “Thanks. I’ll let Tiare and Sebastian know as we head out.”

The two men sort of nod their heads at each other, then Leon looks at Gloria. “I’m sorry to you, too, for all the rubbish you had to put up with from me.”

She, on the other hand, just crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow. “If you think I’m apologizing to you for being real, you have another thing coming.”

Sonia snorts behind her hand, and now it’s Leon’s turn to shoot her a warning glance. But Gloria continues, “You’re my friends. All of you. Don’t pull this kind of Tauros shite again, all right?”

“Yes, Champion,” Sonia agrees with a half-smile, and both men nod their concurrence.

“Good. Now go home and get some rest. If you need anything else, ring me up.”

“Likewise,” Leon nods, and the duo leave their friends behind, talking in the office.

As they leave, Raihan waves to Tiare _oh, the girl who helped me before_. “Hey, I’m going to step out for a few hours. I’ll be back before the day is up, but Leon Terrene is filling in for me. If you need something, go bother him and he can bother me if there’s a problem.” She goes a little pale at the mention of the ex-Champion/current Macro Cosmos CEO’s name, but nods vigorously. “Tell the others, too.”

They get outside and Raihan now takes her hand and leads her right to a Taxi. He carefully gets her inside, wraps an arm around her shoulders, and tells the cabbie where to go. She keeps rolling Gardevoir’s pokéball through her fingers, and she’s keeping it together like a master welder melting her edges together because she doesn’t want to cry in a Taxi, and Raihan says nothing but his arm is a steel shield and she puts her head against his shoulder for strength.

They land in Wedgehurst and the breeze helps her stay in control of herself. When they get to Gran’s house, Sonia walks straight through the gate into the backyard. She pulls out Gardevoir’s pokéball and starts glancing around for a good place. Her eyes alight on the tree peonies with huge, ivory, fragrant blossoms, and yes, that feels right. That looks beautiful enough to match her girl.

Sonia doesn’t garden as often as Gran did in her free time, but there’s a watering can with an old trowel at the side of the backyard door that she keeps on hand. She picks up the trowel and heads to the peonies. Once there, she digs a small but deep hole right behind the main stems near the stone wall until she can gently place the pokéball inside.

“Thank you for everything,” she whispers to the ground, and her tears start wetting the soil. “You were wonderful. I’ll never forget you, Gardevoir. I’ll miss you.” They start falling faster and her hand can’t hold itself up anymore as she says, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Raihan’s hand comes around, wraps around hers, and together they carefully slide the dirt back into place until the hole has been filled in and there’s no difference between it and the rest of the earth.

“Can you get the watering can?” she asks, handing him the trowel to put away.

He finds and fills it using the outside hose attachment, then brings it to Sonia. She takes it and gently rains down on the peonies, and then waters the nearby roses and tulips until the can is empty. She’s not crying anymore.

“Goodbye, Gardevoir. Get some rest,” and she puts down the can before opening the door and heading inside, holding it for Raihan to follow her inside.

He shuts and locks the door before draping himself over her shoulders. “Let’s go lay down.”

She knows what he means, an offer devoid of sex and full of love, and without a word she kicks off her boots as he takes off his trainers, tosses her jacket and his hoodie onto a kitchen chair, and within minutes they’re lying on her bed facing each other. He covers both of them with the blankets before pulling her into his chest.

“I’ve got you, Sonia,” he murmurs against her hair. “You can let go.”

The edges fray again and there aren’t many tears left, which is good because she feels so wrung dry, and he just wipes them away and kisses her forehead and she falls asleep on his arm like a pillow built just for her.

When she wakes up two hours later, he’s already awake and reading his Rotom. “Hey there, sleepyhead.”

“Hey. Everything okay?”

“Suppose so. Leon hasn’t rung me up with a question.”

“Oh,” and she feels a small rumble in her gut. “I think I’m hungry from all the crying. Would you like something to eat?”

“Don’t worry about me, sweetheart. Let’s get you fed.”

She doesn’t mind feeding him, either, and she has enough leftovers and tea and toast for the two of them to share. He always looks so grateful for whatever she makes, and that helps make her feel good again.

Soon, lunch is over and she doesn’t need his help washing dishes so she instead tells him to take Boltund for a walk while she cleans up. He decides to make a deal of it, releasing Duraludon too so they can stroll around the neighborhood and let some energy out. It gives her time to herself and put away her Rotom to charge – all the videotaping left it at low battery – before she whips out her laptop. She’d started to bring stuff from her notebook to the laptop yesterday, but now that she has more roads to mentally travel, she can take the time to flush them out. She needs to do something that keeps her mind off the loss she can’t get back.

The front door slams closed. “We’re back!” he yells, and she mentally rolls her eyes and smiles because there’s no way to miss him. He settles Duraludon back in his pokéball and brushes down Boltund before strolling into the kitchen to steal a kiss and a drink of water.

“Good walk?”

“Yeah. Duraludon enjoyed the change of scenery for sure. He doesn’t run fast but Boltund was running around enough for both of them,” he says before taking a swig of water and gesturing with his chin to her laptop. “What is that?”

She shows off her work, a not-small amount of pride puffing up her chest. “So I’ve started a spreadsheet looking at the dens in the Wild Area, and tracking the frequency by which we see Dynamax activity. Each den gets a different number, and with 99 dens there’s quite a lot to keep track of. But I imported some data from the past few years, leading all the way back into ’10 – before any of this Eternatus nonsense occurred. And I’ve noticed that while the dens don’t seem to have increased in their frequency of Dynamaxing, the overall frequency when taking them as a whole shows about a 10% increase. So how is this happening, you ask? Well, all of them are going active a little faster than usual. But, perhaps more importantly, they are _staying_ active for longer amounts of time. Normally a den is active for 24 hours. Now, they’ve been staying active for 26.3 hours on average. BUT the rate of new den activation still happens every 24 hours. Ergo, increased overall frequency.”

“Sweet Arceus, this is mad,” he mutters. “How much time did this take to make?”

“A lot,” she admits. “But I think it’s worth it to have answers we didn’t before.”

“Like Eternatus’ previously unknown abilities?”

“Yeah. It can induce Dynamaxing, stop Dynamaxing, and induce the Gigantamax factor. I assume it can also remove the Gigantamax factor, but I’m not feeling a mood to test that. Rather, I wonder if it can also manipulate the space-time continuum. Gardevoir’s death, you know.”

“And if it’s not related?”

Sonia doesn’t like that thought because that puts Gardevoir’s death square on her shoulders, and Raihan immediately says, “Never mind. Sorry.”

“No, it’s… you weren’t being cruel. But I’ll deal with it if I find out it’s true.”

“Can I ask you another question?”

“Sure.”

“Do you want me to stay? Tonight?”

She looks down first at Boltund, now napping at her feet, before looking at Raihan. He still has concern coloring the edges of his eyes, the furrow in his brow, but Sonia isn’t sure she needs him now.

Besides… she thinks there are others who will need her tonight.

“No. I think I’m going to be all right.”

“Would you ring me if you weren’t?”

She nods.

He sighs. “Then I have to get back to the Gym. Leon sent me a text while we were walking. He’s got it under control, but he’ll have to go back to Macro in an hour.”

“OH! Then you definitely should head back!” she says, standing up. “You both have been a gift, and I really could not ask for more. Thank you.”

She calls him a Taxi because he doesn’t have Flygon’s saddle or his glasses, and he spends the time hugging her while they wait for it to arrive. They say goodbye, with kisses of warmth rather than fire, and then Sonia goes back to work. ~~~~

The rest of the day is spent in a bit of a haze, because even the time with Raihan could only blunt the pain of Gardevoir’s loss for a little while, and then she gives up, heats up some leftovers for herself and Boltund, and finally brings the other members of her team out into the garden.

“I just wanted to let you guys know something,” she says, and there’s very noticeable confusion on Dracozolt’s face and Lapras is humming a colder song than usual. This is going to hurt, but she has to do it because her Pokémon deserve to have the closure. “Gardevoir… she got injured. Really badly hurt and I… I couldn’t make her better. So she’s going to stay here in the garden from now on.”

Centiskorch skitters over to the flowers, its flames muted to prevent setting the garden on fire, and taps the disturbed dirt. Sonia nods at it; it’s hard for a Pokémon to look thoughtful, but Centiskorch does and lets out a little huff of hot air, sending petals floating up into the air from the heat, before backing up and sitting on the stone walkway.

One by one the other Pokémon come on by to sniff or paw at the dirt, and maybe they’re not as smart as humans, but Sonia would be the fool to think that they haven’t figured out exactly what it means when one of them is hiding away in a place that no one can reach. When it’s time to go back into their pokéballs, they are unwilling to jump back in; enough so that Toxtricity almost zaps her when she pulls out his pokéball. Sonia decides to leave them outside while she goes back in for her usual nighttime routine and see if they’re more agreeable in an hour.

When she looks out the window they are still outside, and she realizes that they’re all sleeping near the peonies. It doesn’t take any thought; she grabs her camping gear and heads out to join them. A little while later and she’s pitched her tent right next to all six of them, laying on the grass and knowing that she probably won’t sleep tonight because that sixth member isn’t really asleep and the reason for that will keep eating at her until she has answers and she can feel like the sacrifice wasn’t made in vain.

It starts softly, like rain in the distance, and soon she realizes that Lapras is singing a gentle lullaby, an enchanting little melody that winds around her head and closes her eyes and soothes the pains from today’s loss with memories that are dear and sweet, and Sonia finds that she doesn’t just sleep.

She rests.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes (08/03/2020): Writing that a second time didn't make it hurt less. Goodbye, Gardevoir.
> 
> So I'm posting to this story because I want to try and catch up, leaving it only a chapter behind 'Your World'. I will try to jump back to the original story so I can actually move this plot along before the DLC for Crown Tundra comes out (as I have Plans and absolutely refuse to change them).
> 
> Thanks to everyone who keeps reading. You guys are wonderful!


	11. Paid in Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Leon is no longer the Champion and things are changing for the younger generation, perhaps the future will shift in a direction that Sonia has never expected. When she decides to accept an invitation to go out dancing with Nessa and Raihan, she finds out that there may be more than one dream and more than one kind of happiness.
> 
> Chapter 11: The video stops, and Sonia feels like the world has suddenly gone silent and colors are inverted and everything is wrong wrong WRONG because there’s no doubt in her mind what happened in the illusion that Gardevoir gave her life to show them and she walks down that path of knowledge like she’s presenting her thesis.
> 
> This is the divergence from my first story 'Your World Was Not Mine (Your Eyes Told Me So)', and will run parallel to the original.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Musical Accompaniment: Silent Tears by Roger Subirana. It begins with Sonia playing the video and Eternatus' first appearance. The song ends as both Sonia and Gloria sit down to talk.

The next morning is brought in with the rolling fog, and Sonia hears Boltund scratching her tent door with hungry intent as her wake-up call. For a moment she thinks she’s still in the Wild Area, so when she gets up and sees the garden and the fence and her house, it throws her off so much that she just stands there blinking at everything.

The peonies stand tall, ivory petals bloomed open like a ballroom gown, and Sonia knows where she is and what she’s doing on her lawn. The gut-punch takes away her appetite, even after the overnight fast, and her voice isn’t quite the same when she speaks.

“Hope you slept well last night, everyone,” she says softly, trailing one hand over Dracozolt’s head and other under Lapras’s chin. “I think there’s quite a bit to do today… so we best get a move on.”

Sonia doesn’t usually have to feed five Pokémon in the morning, but she’s always got some curry or other food in reserve and no one goes hungry. She sips some milk and eats a few berries before putting everyone away for some well-deserved rest. Then, after packing her laptop and Boltund’s pokéball, she heads off to the lab.

When she arrives, she keeps the lights off and relocks the door after entering. “Rotom?”

“Yes?”

“Please enter projector mode.”

It aims at the wall farthest from the windows, though she left the shades down. She quickly scrolls through the saved videos, finding the one from the Energy Plant right at the end. “Can you play this video in reverse?”

“Permission to download video editor?”

“Permission granted.”

While Rotom does its work, she pulls the kitchenette table on over for a better look, then grabs her laptop and opens it up into a text document for jotting down her thoughts. Finally, it gives a little beep and flies on over. “Program downloaded.”

“Wonderful. Let’s try playing that video in reverse?”

She takes a seat and hisses when she sees that it’s starting with Gardevoir’s death. “Rotom, fast forward through this section,” because it was bad enough watching her die, but having her come back to life when it’ll never happen is just going to break her heart again.

Sonia doesn’t watch as Rotom speeds ahead in time, but it lets out a beep and the video stops. When she looks up, it’s the moment when the two of them disappear as the room turns into the illusion. “Play from here,” and as the video plays she a huge rock on the ground, at least the size of two Flying Taxis – Corviknight and cab included – next to each other. It’s not quite round, but instead flattened on one side with a pockmarked surface, like bite marks taken out of it. And she sees the streaks of red from within, pulsing and flaring without rhyme or rhythm, and puts it all together.

_This is the meteor held Eternatus in stasis after the Heroes sealed it away._ “Rotom, rewind about 10 seconds.”

It does, and when she replays it, there’s nothing to give her an answer on how an Eternatus in an illusion could have killed her Gardevoir. No special flare, no connected event. Sonia changes her hypothesis.

_Gardevoir died from using too much power._ That hurts, because she can’t even blame someone else for this loss, but she doesn’t have the luxury of breaking down right now.

“Rotom, rewind ten seconds please.” A third evaluation and no new knowledge falls on her, so she lets the video run. As it is, Eternatus-in-a-rock just sits down there as a glass-and-metal cage is constructed by some Macro Cosmos engineers; they are wearing the same uniforms as a dead giveaway. The details are a little fuzzy, in part because the illusion itself had been cast at double to triple Real Life speed by this time.

“Rotom, can you slow the video to half-speed?”

“Affirmative,” and it slows down just as she watches engineers and other people start to construct the cage. She’d heard about the glass containment unit that held Mewtwo, the Legendary Pokémon from Kanto, and wonders if they started building this based off those details. This one is completely round, and some Steel and Rock Pokémon are brought in to reinforce the internal cage along with the glass itself. It’s not terribly exciting, and still moves quite fast considering this had to have been built over the course of months to years, given the at-the-time unknown strength of Eternatus. Rose must have been extra cautious – _thought not enough_ , Sonia mentally sighs.

Finally, though, they make it to the point where it gets completed, and the illusion/video slows down to real time. Both Rose and Oleana are present to watch what occurs. A few Rock-types are used to break open the meteorite, and the unholy dragon lays limp on the ground. It’s a bit smaller than what Sonia remembers from her time with Gloria on the Giant’s Seat, and she suspects it’s due to the lack of energy. A Copperajah puts it inside the unit; the door is shut, then sealed with fire while a gas of some sort is infused through one of the bottom hoses. She has no idea what it could be; Rose would have to tell her.

Time passes as Eternatus floats in the glass bubble, and there are numbers, vital signs of some sort, and other meaningless (to her) information that’s being passed across different screens and computers in the Plant. Macro Cosmos employees shuffle along, doing work of some variation or another, but then she sees Rose coming into view, carrying a box of something, and when he opens it she sees a little flash of red.

Wishing Stars.

_The day before the Championship._

He talks with them before disappearing, before everyone disappears; she can’t tell time due to the lack of windows, but then there are about two-dozen Macro Cosmos employees standing around and ready to proceed. Odd, though; neither Oleana nor Rose are present.

“Rotom, pause the video.” It does, and she thinks out loud. “Why aren’t they there? Why isn’t Rose there? Why wouldn’t he have been physically present for one of the most important events of his life? Something that he literally staked his whole career on?”

Rotom doesn’t answer; she wasn’t looking for one, because she’s got a possible answer and it’s making her stomach roll with uncertainty and fear.

“Rotom, restart the video at half-speed.”

One Macro Cosmos employee begins feeding Wishing Stars from the box that Rose had brought – _hah, I was right!_ – into one of the tubes leading into Eternatus’ cage. They’re dropped in by the handful, and as they enter into the cage, they dissipate into red-pink energy that Eternatus starts to absorb. She watches as it gets bigger. The employee is moving more slowly, talking to someone, then continues to drop them in. The feeling in Sonia’s stomach is worse, making her throat start to tighten and her heart start to race because she thinks she knows what’s going to happen next.

And she is unprepared for when Eternatus shatters the glass-and-steel cage, sending pieces flying out and killing some of the employees in a bloody spray while others run for cover. The scream she lets out is loud, echoing in the empty lab, and takes up the sound-space that no one in the video can make. And it escapes and roars and the whole room starts to glow red, in particular some of the people still alive, and they start to fall down like puppets with their strings cut, and Eternatus keeps getting bigger and bigger until it can’t fit into the room anymore and a blinding flash of red takes up the whole room, and then it’s gone. Sonia knows it went up onto the roof, because that’s where Leon, Hop, and Gloria went, but what scares her more is the fact that there are no bodies on the floor. No blood, no nothing.

Rose walks in some time later from the Hammerlocke lift, shakes his head, and stands there like a disappointed father looking at the mess his wayward child has made. He leaves the Energy Plant, then comes back. Some time later, Leon runs into the frame, and Sonia doesn’t need to watch the rest unfold because that’s not important. She doesn’t have any questions about what happens next.

“Rotom, rewind,” and she stops it right before Eternatus breaks out. This time, she’s somewhat prepared for what happens. The Wishing Stars dissolve, the cage is destroyed, some of the Macro Cosmos employees are killed right away. And those that aren’t… they start glowing red. Like they’re made of Wishing Stars. And even the ones who are already dead are also turning shining red until Eternatus’ inner core flashes with a light brighter than bright, and then the room is empty of all life. When Rose comes in, she watches him to see his reaction.

But he’s almost blank. No shock. No surprise. No anger or concern. Just… bland.

_He knew it would happen_

“Rotom, stop video.” She takes a few shaky breaths. “Turn off projector mode, come down here.”

She rewatches the explosion scene a third time, still at half speed, just to make sure there are no questions about what happened. But Gardevoir’s illusion is clear and unchanging, and no, Sonia doesn’t think she’s made a mistake in a new theory she’s going to put forth.

She picks the second-to-last recorded video, with Leon telling her what he remembers. She plays two lines.

_“And I intend to see that Galar remains great for all time, regardless of who or what must be sacrificed.”_

_“I don’t regret what I’ve done, Leon, but what has been opened can never be undone. Either become its trainer, or become the fuel for its fire.”_

The video stops, and Sonia feels like the world has suddenly gone silent and colors are inverted and everything is wrong _wrong WRONG_ because there’s no doubt in her mind what happened in the illusion that Gardevoir gave her life to show them and she walks down that path of knowledge like she’s presenting her thesis.

_Everything in Galar, from plants to people to Pokémon, is imbued with Galar particles_

_Eternatus absorbs and emits Galar particles; is, in fact, the source of those particles_

_Rose made his people feed Eternatus Wishing Stones – broken-off pieces from a part of Eternatus’ meteorite-slash-body – to help revive it_

_Instead of waking it up enough so it could power the Energy Plant, Eternatus went on a massive rampage_

_People died, and then just… disappeared_

_And Rose wasn’t there when it happened_

_But he came in soon after the rampage was done_

_Ergo_

_Eternatus “ate” the people – dead and alive – by absorbing them down to the atomic level_

_Turning them into pure Galar particles_

_And Rose_

_“Regardless of who or what must be sacrificed”_

_knew_

_“Become the fuel for its fire”_

_this would happen_

_Eternatus can absorb human life, maybe all life… and Rose let his people die_

_No_

_He killed them_

She runs to the loo because the reality makes her so nauseous that she can’t hold her breakfast down, and she upswallows everything from this morning and then dry heaves so hard that she does it again.

_Eternatus can absorb human life, and Rose killed his own people to bring a murderous alien back to life_

She falls on her knees, holding the toilet for support even though her hands are shaking and she’s still heaving and yup, she vomits a little more because she is _not_ handling this epiphany with any grace whatsoever

_Eternatus can absorb human life, and Rose killed his own people to bring a murderous alien back to life – and. He. Has. No. Regrets. About. It._

“You fucking cunt,” she weakly snarls. “You murderous gobshite. I will see you burn in hell for this.”

She gets her feet under her, flushes away her embarrassment, and washes her mouth. Tea isn’t going to fix the wretched taste in her mouth, and she instead opens one of the cabinets under the sink. In the far back is a bottle of unopened whisky, and she immediately pulls it out and cracks the seal with a corkscrew she keeps in another drawer. There aren’t any shot glasses around, so she uses one of her water glasses instead.

The first shot takes the wind right out of her, and she coughs like her lungs need to go for a stroll and get some fresh air. So, of course, she takes a second swig. That one feels a little better, and the burn going down her chest is just enough to motivate her into coming alive again.

“FUCK!” she screams into the empty lab. “FUCK YOU, ROSE! FUCK YOU FOR DESTROYING EVERYTHING AND NOT GIVING TWO GODDAMN FUCKS! FUCK! YOU!!”

The energy she spends swearing into the void makes her feel a tiny bit better. It’s certainly cathartic, but too soon she admits that this isn’t knowledge she can sit on. She needs to act. She quickly creates and discards ideas like she’s rifling through papers before coming to one that she knows is the only answer.

“Rotom? Ring up Gloria.”

“Call in process.”

The phone rings and goes to voicemail. _Shite!_ Gloria must be doing something important, but this is important too, so for once in her life Sonia leaves a message.

“Hey, Gloria, it’s Sonia. Ring me back ASAP. It’s about… our discussion yesterday. Bye.”

She doesn’t know if someone else might be listening to the conversation or not, but she errs on the side of caution. The next person to call should be Leon – for more reason than one – but she decides to wait. She wants to call Raihan, because she suddenly desperately needs the support, but discards that thought too. She _needs_ to talk to Gloria, and if she doesn’t return the call in ten minutes, Sonia is trying again.

It doesn’t take more than five before Rotom starts ringing, “Call from Gloria!”

She answers before Rotom can even say the word ‘Gloria’. “Hey, are you okay?”

Gloria flubs for a second. “Uh, yeah I’m fine. What’s wrong?”

“Where are you?”

“I’m in Wyndon – at the Stadium.”

“Where’s Eternatus?”

“With me. I’m staring at its pokéball.”

“Listen to me. This is very important. Do not, and I repeat, do NOT let it out of your sight! Don’t let a single person touch it! Protect it with your life!”

“Sonia, what’s going on?”

“I need to talk to you in person. Right now. I figured out what Gardevoir’s illusion was telling me.”

“Really? What?”

Her voice is more curious than afraid, and while Sonia knows that Gloria is ignorant of this knowledge, she doesn’t like that tone. “Promise me that you won’t leave your office, or the Stadium, or wherever you are until I get there. Promise!”

“I… I promise. Sonia, what’s going on? You’re starting to scare me a bit.”

“Good. Because you aren’t going to like what I have to say. I’ll be to Wyndon in an hour.”

“I’ll be here.”

Sonia hangs up without a polite ‘goodbye’ and gets a move on. She makes a quick stop home to pick up the other four pokéballs, and then catches a Taxi to Wyndon Stadium.

When Sonia enters the Stadium, she immediately goes to the front desk and asks to see the Champion. “This is an emergency. Get me the Champion,” she says without a bit of preamble.

The receptionist looks gobsmacked at the sight of the region’s professor basically yelling at him, but Gloria runs out to save the poor man. “I’m here, Professor,” she says, falling into her role.

She’s dressed to the nines, too, which is not something that she cares to do on days without either exhibition or Championship matches. Not only is she wearing the Champion’s jersey and matching pleated skort, but she’s also wearing The Cape (as Gloria not-so-affectionately calls it). It’s more like a hooded cloak without the furred edges, made of the finest cotton in Galar and the same vibrant red as Leon’s had been, turning her into a drop of blood against a sea of grass when she’s on the pitch. It doesn’t reach past her ankles, and the very lightest of breezes can send the hem fluttering around her like invisible spirits showing off her power. Her hair is pulled up in double crown braids; it’s almost striking how different she looks now from last Friday night.

But it bolsters Sonia because it means that Gloria is taking this seriously. She jumps right in. “Where’s the quietest place to talk?”

“My office.”

“Let’s go.”

Gloria leads the way, but only by an inch. Sonia’s about ready to run into a closet it they can’t somewhere protected. They get deeper into the administrative area, and there’s a huge door with a plaque stating

**Galar Champion**

**Wyndon Stadium Gym Leader**

**Gloria Fitzroy**

She unlocks the door and shuffles Sonia inside before shutting and locking it. Like Raihan, Gloria has an office fit for her title. Unlike his, though, Gloria has a second room hidden behind this main office, with a couch and chair and Sonia thinks she can even see a shower in the back. Out here, though, is a large executive’s desk where her workstation is set up, windows on one side to give her a view of Wyndon Stadium’s entrance. In this room is also a round table, obviously meant for intimate but important business meetings and the like. Gloria happens to keep her office much cleaner than Raihan, though it’s probably due to personality differences than anything else.

“All right, this isn’t going to be a chinwag of a conversation, is it?”

Sonia doesn’t soften the blow. “Rose used Eternatus to kill his employees.”

Gloria’s mouth open and closes before she finally says, “I’m sorry. I know what you said. But… what? How did you find that out?”

“Gardevoir’s illusion. Let me show you. Rotom, pull up the last video.”

Her Rotom floats up, and she forwards it to the point when the employee is feeding Eternatus the Wishing Stars. “Rotom, set to projector mode.” She looks at Gloria, who does not look great but is still standing on her own. “You might want to sit down for this.”

Gloria pulls over one of her chairs as the paused video is projected on a wall. Sonia looks back at her before saying, “Rotom, play video in reverse. Half speed.”

For a fourth time that day, Sonia watches the employee drop Wishing Stars into the tubing, Eternatus explode from the glass, and then turn the humans that were alive all of ten seconds prior into nothing but food for its core. Gloria, to her credit, doesn’t make a sound even through the deaths. Sonia pauses once Leon appears in the frame.

“My best guess on what just happened? Eternatus absorbed the bodies of all two-dozen people in that room by turning them into Galar particles. It’s why there were no bodies on the floor when you and Hop made it down. And… I think Rose knew that would happen. He wasn’t in the video because he knew he would be killed if he stayed to watch,” she says softly. “He hid away and let all those people die for his dream. Some bloody dream that doesn’t mean a damn thing now.”

There’s a stillness to Gloria’s pose; not like a statue, carved into perpetual non-action, but more like snow piled on top of a mountain, waiting for the single errant sound to send it falling down the side, cold in its mindless attempt to swallow all that stands in its path. And Sonia can almost feel the ice-cold focus from three meters away as Gloria looks at the paused image without moving, without blinking.

When Gloria turns to stare at her without any emotion in her eyes, it’s like being caught in a Sableye’s gaze, and her pulse starts to race and she can’t move. It’s a different kind of scary than being around Rose, and Sonia doesn’t like it because she’s never been afraid of Gloria and doesn’t want to start feeling that way now.

“Does anyone else know this?”

“No. Just you and me.”

Gloria stands up and starts pacing back and forth in the room, like a wild Rillaboom in a cage without its drum. “I need your help.”

“Yes, of course.”

“I want you to tell me that killing Rose is a bad idea. Because I want to.”

Sonia shakes her head, not surprised but still a bit alarmed. “You know you can’t do that.”

“If he was standing right here-”

“He’s not,” she says firmly. “Gloria, you _know_ you can’t. The Champion doesn’t do that! You are the symbol of all that is good and right in Galar, and if you do this then you’ll destroy all that you’ve worked to accomplish.”

The younger woman pulls at her hair. “I hate this! I hate that he gets to sit in his little prison cell, all quiet and safe, while we have to deal with this! He should be punished!”

“You’re right. Rose deserves to suffer, but you can’t be the one to do it. _I_ would kill him before I’d let you ruin your life or destroy the importance of the Champion’s title.”

“I would be a piss-poor Champion letting a mass murderer go without proper punishment.”

“That’s not for you to decide.”

Gloria suddenly goes still, her hands over her eyes with her head tilted to the sky, and Sonia can almost feel the waves of rage and sorrow mixing in the air because she gets it, she understands Gloria’s pain because she felt the same way. Finally, something must make her come to grips with the reality of following through because she turns sharply on her heel and pulls her chair back to the table before dropping down.

“All right, Professor. We have this knowledge. What do we do about it?”

Sonia doesn’t have a good answer, but she needs to do her best. “I suppose I should make it clearer that I’m only speculating based on what I know about Rose and what I saw in the video. The evidence is quite damning, but if we were to bring this illusion to Rose, he could state that he wasn’t aware of Eternatus’ ability. I can imagine him saying, ‘yes, quite regretful the loss, but you couldn’t possibly expect me to have predicted such an event to occur’.”

“Yes, me too,” Gloria says, that edge in her voice still needle-sharp.

“Even if we can prove it, the truth is that it doesn’t matter much. He’s already in prison serving two life sentences. So while you and I may not feel that that is enough of a punishment, we are going to have to be satisfied with it because what Gardevoir showed us isn’t going to hold up in a court of law.”

“Pity.”

“But the thing that is really going to mean a lot to you… is that Eternatus is much more dangerous than we expected. Beyond Dynamaxing, Gigantamaxing, even its own Eternamax form – it has the potential to kill both humans and Pokémon at a scale I’m not sure we can truly conceive. And we can’t test it; we can’t have it absorb Galar particles from some unsuspecting person or Pokémon hundreds of kilometers away just to test a hypothesis.”

Gloria now looks horrified, which is such a reassuring change from her colder expression. “Absolutely not! And it wouldn’t do that! Not with me as its Trainer.”

“But we have to assume it can. So that leads to a second point,” and she knows that Gloria _really_ won’t like this but since she’s already in a foul mood Sonia may as well put a cherry on top. “You might want to consider getting a bodyguard. For all intents and purposes, you are carrying the most dangerous Pokémon in Galar. Possibly the world. I don’t know if Protect, Mirror Coat, or Light Screen can stop it, but we have to assume that nothing can keep Eternatus from draining the region dry. And if someone of no morals were to realize this and take Eternatus from you, then they’d have the power to destroy everything – and no one could stop them.”

“Zacian and Zamazenta could.”

“Could they protect the whole region, or just you and Hop?”

Gloria bites her thumb in thought. “I don’t know. But I can’t have someone following me around for the rest of my Champion days or constantly looking over my shoulder for invisible villains!”

“You probably should,” Sonia says. “Leon never had one, and neither did Douglas before him, but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be a good idea to have someone around whose sole job is protecting you.”

The face that Gloria pulls actually makes Sonia smile. “Fantastic. The few minutes I get to steal with Hop will be that much more romantic with a third person. Just fan-fuckin-tastic.” She perks up. “Wait, could he be-”

“A bodyguard does more than just watch your body, love.”

A bit of Friend Gloria seeps back into her skin with the laugh that follows. “It was worth the thought.” She sighs and crosses her arms. “I will consider your idea, as much as I don’t care for it. Because there is at least one person who I would hold as a possible offender.”

“Who?”

“Oleana.”

Sonia lets out a hiss. “We need to bring Leon into this, as the current Macro Cosmos CEO.”

“Raihan, too. He’s going to ask about the video for certain.”

“And your Hop?”

“Bollocks, this is getting big,” Gloria curses. “Can’t we just… kill Rose and set a precedent?”

“No.”

“Fuck.”

“We don’t have to talk to them right this very second. We promised to meet up on Friday, anyway. But I will ask – have you done anything with Eternatus between yesterday and today?”

“No, but we can right now if you are all right with that.”

After watching that video, Sonia feels the mild tremor start to run through her body at the thought of looking at the creature. “Sure.”

“Then let’s go.”

There’s a second door leading out of her office, and Sonia is pleasantly surprised to see that it leads directly into one of the Stadium’s hallways. A right turn, and it’s a straight shot into the Stadium proper. Walking onto the pitch with Gloria, surrounded by the empty seats, brings back an old memory.

_Walking onto the pitch, her team at her hips, and she tries to fake the confidence she doesn’t feel_

_Leon standing across from her, that bright smile on his face, that vivid glow in his eyes_

_And even though he was just a child, he was still a shining star_

_And she knows, deep in her gut, that she won’t go any farther than this, and she gazes around the Stadium because this is the last time she’ll see it from this perspective_

_Because she’s just a steppingstone on the way to the most important battle of his life_

_She starts with Yamper, doesn’t remember what he starts with_

_She ends with Dynamax Lapras against his Gigantamax Charizard, and though she gets a good hit in, it’s not enough to stand against his G-Max Overgrowth_

_She doesn’t cry because she cried last night and there’s nothing left_

_They shake hands and it almost hurts to see the look on his face as he tells her she battled really well because_ he’s lying

_He never broke a sweat_

_He never looked concerned_

_And she never made him feel like she was his equal_

_When all she wanted was for him to see her_

But she shakes her head. Whether or not he sees her now is irrelevant.

Gloria gives her no warning when she throws the ball into the air, and Eternatus springs right out. It’s just as well because she’s rooted in place as it flies into the sky and lets out a sound between a growl and a purr at the freedom.

“Eternatus, come on down,” Gloria says, catching its attention, and the giant Pokémon floats down near eye level. It looks at Sonia, does a slow circle around her before butting its “nose” against her hand, and she only lets out a surprised breath rather than a scream.

“H-hi,” she manages to say before taking that same shaky hand and stroking one of the ridges on its head. It’s surprisingly warm, almost matching her body temperature, and her finger tingles when it touches the red “skin” holding everything together. It makes another sound, low and easy, and Sonia assumes that it must like the sensation, or she’d be mostly dead. Her curiosity gets the better of her, and she brings her hand under its presumed chin to give it a scratch, like she would Yamper or Boltund.

It tilts its head up and leans right into her touch, and it sets her heart at a new tempo that is usually reserved for running or battling. It’s not necessarily fear that hits her, but the dawning knowledge that this alien lifeform, powerful and destructive with capabilities that might never be seen again, is still a Pokémon who adores its trainer and loves a good chin scritch. In some ways, it’s no different from Gloria’s other Pokémon, and that’s such an odd reality to grapple with.

At this angle she can see the throbbing heart-core in its ribs. It takes on a soft ivory glow instead of the usual intense blinding white, and though there’s no heat she can feel its presence around her, as if she were standing on the hand of a god.

“You know,” she starts conversationally, “there were people who tried to use you to hurt other people. Do you remember that?”

A sound, alien and non-committal.

“We’re afraid they might try to use you again.”

It doesn’t bother to reply, far too unconcerned with trivial human worries about trivial humans.

“I’m afraid they might try to hurt Gloria to get you.”

That phrase makes it angry, and it dashes out of Sonia’s grip to wind itself around Gloria’s legs in a protective ring. It still doesn’t make a sound, but that core has gone back to being white-hot again and Sonia wouldn’t dare go near it or Gloria.

Gloria herself lays a hand on its head. “But you can do something quite special, can’t you? You can pull the energy out of anything and use them as you please.”

No answer, but it’s listening (probably).

“We watched Rose force-feed you Wishing Stars, and when you broke out you were so hungry or angry or mad that you ate all the people in the room.”

The spikes on its back go up; hackles on a hairless, skinless creature. Sonia wants to tell Gloria to watch out, but she bites her tongue and says nothing. She has no place in this relationship.

“I want to believe you didn’t mean to do it… but I won’t hate you if you did. I won’t hate you for being what you are, or for someone taking advantage of that nature.”

Gloria’s hand still strokes the head, and Eternatus doesn’t make a sound.

“So I promise, as your Trainer, I won’t ask you to do that. Won’t make you do something as awful as killing people or eating them up. When we fight, it’s to prove our strength and protect the region, not to push anyone around. Would… would you join me in that?”

Eternatus’s reply is a loud roar that makes Sonia wince, and even Gloria closes her eyes and covers one ear. It glows red, and suddenly both Gloria and Sonia see their bodies start to glow with that same energy.

_Galar particles_

And it takes every bit of self-control in Sonia to not scream and run or try to grab Gloria or do _something_ because this whole situation is not within her control _at all_ but as she watches she can see how the whole stadium has Galar particles within it, filled with red glitter that starts in the ground _(the Stadium’s power spot!_ ) and reaches all the way up to the sky. She can see how her pokéballs are so tightly packed with them that they glow like little Wishing Stars before they’ve been put into Dynamax bands.

She looks at her own hand, at the way her body glows with the energy, and sees how beautiful it looks, how beautiful Gloria looks, how everything is connected and the same and how Eternatus, right now, slowly swallows what floats in the air, and releases more through the core in its chest which isn’t really white but a color that’s not a color and more like a feeling, a sensation like passing time or old habits, something that can barely be described but never truly known.

The dots connect, and she says, “This is what Eternatus sees. This is how it sees our world.”

Gloria follows right along; she’s always been bright. “It’s always eating Galar particles now that it’s free and releasing more at the same time.”

“Hence why the Pokémon Dens are running at a higher Wattage.”

“And why they’re turning over more rapidly than before.”

“Blessed Arceus, this is it,” Sonia says, “this is the answer I’ve been looking for. Energy cannot be created or destroyed in a fixed system – but Eternatus opens the system. It _is_ a system.”

“Are you seriously talking about rewriting thermodynamics?” Gloria asks.

“It’s hardly my forte, to be fair, but Gran had to do a spot of research into it to understand how Dynamaxing and Gigantamaxing worked. Needless to say, I had to know it too.” She takes a moment to slow her thoughts. “So why are we seeing this now? Why is Eternatus showing this to us?”

They both look at the Dragon, who takes it as a hint and lets out a second roar. When Sonia opens her eyes, because the sound nearly ripped her brain in two and made her vision go black for a second, the ability to see the Galar particles is gone, and she mourns this loss because it didn’t even occur to her to whip out her Rotom or try and record the moment for posterity. And if she mourns the loss because it was like looking at the world through a veil of ruby energy and made her feel connected to everyone and everything in a way that she’ll never have again, well, she’ll just have to keep that between her and Eternatus.

“Guess we’ll never know,” Gloria says, shaking her head like there’s water stuck in her ears. “Are there further horror stories you’d care to impart on me and my team?”

“I think what we saw was plenty much,” Sonia says, then braces herself for this question. “Are _you_ all right? You aren’t going off to do Rose in if I leave, are you?”

Gloria lets out a deep, chesty sigh as Eternatus makes a sound at her. “I don’t have a ball right now, but we can play later,” she tells it before turning back to Sonia. “No. I won’t. I just promised Eternatus that it – nor anyone else on my team – will ever be used like that. And I intend to keep that promise. Rose can rot in prison for all I care.”

Sonia likes that answer. “So when the four of us meet on Friday, we’re going to tell the two boyos about this.”

“No choice.”

“Do you want to tell Hop?”

“Do you want me to?”

“I think we are a bit beyond our individuals wants, given the state of affairs.”

“Then… we’ll tell him. Invite him to join us on Friday.” She looks at Sonia, then at the empty stadium seats. “If you can have Raihan there to support you, then I can have Hop. And he was there when that cock-up of a tournament happened, so he should know, too.”

Sonia shakes her head. “You don’t have to justify anything to me, love. I trust you. Sorry I didn’t before.”

“With the telling Hop thing? No, I get it. I want him to focus on doing the best work he possibly can. But I think… I think he deserves to know now.”

“Right then, but we still have a few days left. Do you have anything else do focus on?”

“Outside of the Challenge starting up in a month? Just training like usual.”

“May I make a suggestion?”

“I’m all ears.”

“Can you let Zacian and Eternatus battle, to see if it can pull the particles from the Legendary Heroes?”

Gloria bites her lip. “I don’t know. I’ll have to speak with both Pokémon. It’s asking for quite a bit but… I’ll see what I can do.”

“Then, in the meantime I will start writing up my findings. This will be a massive breakthrough in the field of Galar Particle Physics, but I need to figure out how to write about it without maligning you or Eternatus.”

“Best of luck. Let me walk you back,” and Gloria puts Eternatus back in its pokéball before taking Sonia into the Champion’s Office. Sonia had left Rotom floating aimlessly around, as was Gloria’s, but she hadn’t brought anything else. Once she pockets it, she turns and looks at Gloria – who is standing in the middle of the office, looking almost lost amid the furniture and paperwork, and her cloak makes her look like Red Riding Hood waiting for the Big Bad Lycanroc to eat her up.

“Hey, Gloria?”

“Yes?”

“Can I…,” and she decides to ask because that’s what friends do, “Do you need a hug? Because I think I do.”

And Gloria doesn’t even hesitate, wrapping her arms around Sonia’s chest as Sonia puts her arms around Gloria’s shoulders. The two of them stand in the room, holding onto one another for dear life because the things they’ve seen and discovered and learned about the world and themselves has shaken them both, has made the ground they stand on nothing more than thin pieces of rotting wood above a canyon of doubt. For the next three days, they are the only two people – three, counting the darkness that lives in Circhester Prison – in the world who knows a secret so massive it could rip Galar to shreds.

That the Champion of Galar carries a Pokémon dangerous enough to destroy living creatures with barely a thought

That the Professor of Galar has knowledge of this but chooses do nothing

That the once-beloved Chairman sacrificed his own employees to this Pokémon for a skewed vision of the future’s salvation

That the whole of their land runs on energy created by this Pokémon

And that, from now until forever, this threat will always hang upon the heads of all who live in Galar, for without it… all will die.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes (08/31/2020): Never ask a question if you're not prepared to hear the answer. Even in an alternative timeline.
> 
> I imagine most readers of this story keep up with 'Your World', and will notice that this is an almost carbon-copy. Which makes sense since this is a primarily Sonia-Gloria chapter with no boys allowed. But I will keep up this story because I think that the difference in Sonia's relationships is important to her, even if the events that happen to the Triad are essentially the same. And Rose is still a murderous gobshite regardless of the universe.
> 
> Thanks to everyone for reading! I really appreciate it!


	12. That's Why It's Called Re-Search

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Leon is no longer the Champion and things are changing for the younger generation, perhaps the future will shift in a direction that Sonia has never expected. When she decides to accept an invitation to go out dancing with Nessa and Raihan, she finds out that there may be more than one dream and more than one kind of happiness.
> 
> Chapter 12: “That would be… an astounding find! Additional Legendary Pokémon in Galar, protecting our neighbors from the Darkest Day!” Then she stops, and the real punchline of this finding hits her like one of Boltund’s shocks. “They’re Pokémon that might not be destroyed by Eternatus.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No musical accompaniment

It takes her a full 24 hours to emotionally process all this information before Sonia decides that she needs to _do something_ in order to make this situation manageable, and she rifles through some of her old Darkest Day research to see if there’s anything else that may provide greater insight into either Eternatus or abilities of the Legendary Heroes. For better or worse, she was so thorough the first time that there wasn’t much left to be reviewed.

But there is one reference that she had to ignore the first go-round because it didn’t fit any of the pieces of either the Legendary Heroes or the Darkest Day, and now she decides to go back and re-evaluate its usefulness. It’s a photograph that she found in the Motostoke Library while she had been frantically going through their Restricted Archives section all those years ago. It shows a now-lost piece of artwork, at least three thousand years old, making it contemporary to the events of Darkest Day and older than the poem and tapestries still hanging around. But this picture had neither Sword nor Shield on it, though it had been placed with books on said subject, and Sonia hadn’t had the time to critically research its meaning.

Either the top or bottom has a layer of faded black and gray ink; she had assumed it was the Darkest Day sky, which is why she grabbed a photocopy in the first place, but looking at it now she could just as easily see it represent fertile soil. The remainder of the background was tri-colored in red, yellow, and blue. Within the splashes of each color were a pair of dots; black in red, brown or red in yellow, and maybe purple or dark red in the final area. She only knows what they are because of the photograph’s title: Eyes. If there were once words or figures or bodies to match the eyes, there is no evidence any longer; most of the paint has since flaked away, leaving only ideas of color rather than facts to dissect.

_This makes no sense,_ she mentally sighs, rubbing her eyes and tossing off her glasses. _I must have been desperate to copy this. Stupid incomprehensible painting_.

So she decides to go at this from a different perspective, and it’s by the grace of Arceus that her mum is available, once again, to meet for tea.

“My, I’m going to get quite spoiled, visiting my daughter so often during weekdays,” Anise smiles as she enters the lab.

“No, I’m the one who is grateful,” Sonia says, sitting her down and pouring a cuppa that she’d already made. “I know you don’t specialize in ancient history, but I was wondering if you’d be able to help with a spot of research I’m doing.”

“Hmmm, well, ancient history has quite a broad range, as you know. Do you refer to the Relic Age, aligning with the time period in which Darkest Day occurred, or the Conkeldurr Age, when humans learned to build with Conkeldurr material, or the Meteor Age, when the first Mega Evolution took place?”

“The Relic Age. I found a piece of artwork dated from that time.” She slides the photograph over. “I don’t know what to make of this. Do you think you could help me?”

Anise takes a sip of tea as she studies the image. She is silent as she tilts it this way and that in the sunlight before speaking. “Art History is not my forte, dearling, so understand that I may not be able to answer this with any meaning.”

Sonia opens her hands. _Please give me what you have._

“Do you know where this is from? Its origin?”

“No idea. Galar?”

“Hmmm,” she says again. “Well, the little bit of Galarian art history I know is that they tended to work a lot more with metals and sculptures through the Relic Age. Color was not commonly used until well after the Galarians started to interact with the Awjosk Region somewhere around 100 CT, which is our closest neighbor.”

“So this picture – this piece of art – didn’t originate from Galar.”

“That would be where I lean on the opinion.”

“Then why is it here?”

“I could not even begin to speculate.”

It’s a dead end. It has to be. But then her mother continues. “This is rather tickly, though, in my memory. Dear, are you familiar with Kantonian legends?”

“No, not really.”

Anise smiles; this is more her forte. She used to teach many of the undergraduate (and even a few graduate courses) in World or Regional History, preferring to educate on different cultures within an era rather than dive into the deep end on a specifically short time period.

“Kantonian legend is tied closely with Johtoan legends, to give some background, and both share the concept of the Legendary Trio. In the case of Johto, it’s the Legendary Beasts. In Kanto, it’s the Legendary Birds. All three colors can be associated with a specific Pokémon type. Blue, yellow, red; Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres; Suicune, Raikou, Entei.”

“Okay, three Pokémon, three colors,” Sonia follows. “Why is Kantonian – or Johtoan – art here?”

“Well, it’s possible this is not Kantonian.”

Oh, this is just dandy. “Sorry, what?”

“This might be Awjoskan.”

“I’m… what?”

“We’re not the only ones with Darkest Day mythology,” and she abruptly stands up. “Let’s go to the Uni. I think I have an answer for your question, Sonia.”

Sonia darts up and trails after her mother without a word, barely taking time to lock up before they head over to Wedgehurst University. She knows better than to interrupt her mother in mid-thought, because the woman looks like she’s reading a book even as she’s striding down the street. She takes them right over to the library, gives a polite but perfunctory wave to the librarian at the desk, and heads into the History section. Then she’s pulling books down and waving for Sonia to find a table for them to sit at.

“What are we looking for?” Sonia whispers.

“These are all books on art in each of the regions, particularly focused on the Relic Age,” she whispers back. “Look through for any images that look like the picture you showed me earlier. Look for references on the Legendary Birds.”

“And what you looking for?”

“One of the foremost references on Legendary Pokémon,” and that’s all she says about the matter.

So Sonia sighs and starts flipping through the books, which is kind of fun because it’s a reminder of when she was younger and would help her mother with some of her research or studies, and sitting at the library table like this is a good sort of comfort. Eventually her mother sits down with a few of her own textbooks, and both women are lost in words.

But it’s nearly an hour later and Sonia’s neck hurts and she already went to get a drink and take a bathroom break before Anise breathes out, “I think I found it.”

“Found what?”

She turns the book around and points to a section.

> While the mythology of the world’s creation often hinges on the activity of Groudon and Kyogre to create the separate continents and regions, there is evidence that the actions of prehistorical Pokémon was produced over a longer period than may initially be assumed. One of the most obvious sources has been the location of fossil Pokémon through multiple regions despite the noted variation in modern locales (Moore CI, ’57). Another has been the migration and reproductive patterns of most terrestrial Pokémon species, such as the omnipresence of the Family Rodentia, Genus _Pichu_ lines on nearly every noted continent (Kriteck JM, ‘99), while other regions that share a land mass are noted to have vastly different Pokémon species (e.g. Family Crocodylidae, Genus _Totodile_ line found in Johto but not in Kanto though they are both on the Nion continent) (Kim N, ’69).
> 
> Another, albeit uncommon, event that has occurred is the presence of Legendary Pokémon in non-native regions, though most do not show preference for migration due to incompatible habitats. One trio that has seemed to do well for itself is the presence of an Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres in the Galar region (Lilly H ’83). It is speculated that they initially travelled to Galar after completing the molding of waterways and rivers through the Nion continent, likely around 1 million BCT (Patel NJ ’85), and may have performed the same effects on waterway/oceans on the Opobu continent, as there is geological evidence of rock formation changes that took place during the concurrent time period (Sastra AP, ’92).
> 
> Of note, their presence in Galar during the events of Darkest Day (the Solar Destabilization Event, also seen in parts of Kalos, Awjosk, and Tyber) circa 3000 BCT (Ortha V, ’79) is considered to be the cause of their evolved primary typing, though there remains no formal record of their continued presence in Galar – only anecdotal evidence.

Sonia looks up at her mother, her heart racing. “Wait, there are Legendaries beyond the native Pokémon?”

“I remember reading about the Legendary Birds when I was working on my own thesis many moons ago, but, like you, I found only the barest hint of information. This book is much more updated than my old references, but still reveals only hints and no concrete truths.”

She picks up the picture again, staring at it with new eyes. “You think this picture…?”

“Is referring to the Darkest Day as seen from another country, not Galar. Likely Awjosk,” she says. “I would have to get my friend Esther to look at it for me, as she dabbles much more deeply into Art History and could give you a much stronger answer.”

“Wait,” and Sonia makes a few more mental leaps. “Did the Legendary Birds protect the regions around Galar to prevent the Darkest Day from causing harm in those regions?”

Anise can only hold up her hands.

“That would be… an astounding find! Additional Legendary Pokémon in Galar, protecting our neighbors from the Darkest Day!” Then she stops, and the real punchline of this finding hits her like one of Boltund’s shocks. “They’re Pokémon that might not be destroyed by Eternatus.”

“In a battle?”

Sonia can’t give anything else away, so she lies. “Yes. If they’ve evolved some resistance, it’s… almost world-shattering.”

“Again, this is just speculation, dearling,” her mum says with careful temperance in her voice. “There’s really only one way to prove it.”

“Find the Birds.”

“Find the Birds. That no one has seen for three thousand years.”

“Details.”

Anise snorts. “I’ll go make a photocopy of this for your reference, if you’d care to keep looking through the books.”

Now that Sonia has an idea of what to look for, she can go digging with better, sharper purpose. Galar connects to Awjosk through the southern land bridge, passing through the Crown Tundra, which is then surrounded by other, smaller Opobu regions. So it would follow, then, that if the Birds could have been seen from the three neighboring countries – or at least, their effects could be seen – then they would have had to be somewhere in Galar that could reach those areas.

Like, the Crown Tundra. Which is enormous. And full of ice and snow. And death. Oh boy.

They only spend another two hours in the library, rifling through other Pokémon and Galarian history books with minimal success. This is in part due to Sonia’s stomach making a ruckus and her being too embarrassed to turn down her mother’s offer for dinner, and in part because she needs the goddamn break before her eyes fall out of her head, and cooking is just not in the cards this evening.

She starts to question that decision when, in the middle of eating some of Anise’s twice-baked potatoes and Farfetch’d breast, her father Orrick asks, “So, Sonia, I heard through your mum that you and Raihan were becoming a bit of an item.”

She stops chewing mid-mouthful, darts her eyes between her parents who look extremely interested in her answer, before taking a huge gulp of Moomoo milk and finally saying to her father, “Ah… yes. We are dating. Things have been a bit busy, though, so I’m sorry I didn’t say anything….”

“He’s a fine bloke, though it’s been a few years since we’ve had a chin-wag. When are you bringing him by?”

“Uhm, I’m not sure. Maybe when work dies down a bit, and we can do some proper couple things together.”

“Well, you could invite him to the party next week,” Anise says. “Jasmine is throwing a ‘Congratulations on getting into Poke-Med school!’ party for Hop on the 12th. She told me to extend to invite to you, and I think she’d be pleased as punch to have two important guests on the list.”

This is news to Sonia, but she can work with it. “Oh, that’s great! Hop didn’t mention it the last time we chatted-”

“I suspect he has quite a bit on his mind.”

“- and you’d be right. But my calendar says I’m free that day, and I’ll text Raihan later to see if he is too.”

They eat dessert and drink a bit of Orrick’s homemade stout to relax. Thankfully, neither he nor Anise bring up the topic of Raihan any further, which Sonia appreciates because it was hard enough to talk about it with her mum and Raihan himself, but having her dad dig for details makes her want to crawl in a Silicobra nest and hide.

“So what were my two favorite women up to today?”

“Mum was helping me do some research on the Legendary Birds.”

“Oh, really! Kantonian Pokémon?” Orrick asks with delight. He is no history buff – had been a physical therapist prior to retiring last year – but he loved traveling, and he and Anise had taken Sonia on loads of trips through her childhood to multiple countries. He was also Professor Magnolia’s son, and had learned a thing or two about history whether or not he liked it. “What brought this up?”

“Just reading through some information on Darkest Day and found a reference to the Birds having been present in Galar. Don’t have a great deal to talk about now, but perhaps it’ll be the start of another book.”

“How fascinating! I can’t wait to hear about it! You know, one of my favorite trips was when we went to the Seafoam Islands back in ’84. Remember that, Ani?”

“I do, dearest,” she smiles. “You were really hoping to get a picture of Articuno.”

“Bloody bird was too fast for my camera,” he grumbled, but still obviously relishing the memory. “Was still unbelievably beautiful, though. All ice and rain and just… really quite a sight. Do tell me if you find the Galarian Birds, Sonia; I’d pay a million pokédollars to see them.”

“You’ll be the first to know, I’m sure,” she grins.

They talk and drink for a bit longer before Sonia takes her leave and heads back home. But on the way, she pulls out her Rotom and makes a call.

“Hey, sweetheart.”

“Hey, Raihan, how are you?”

“I’m good. What’s on?”

“Not much. Just came back from my parents’ house for supper.” She pauses, listening closely. “Where are you?”

“At the pub with Leon.”

That’s a surprise. “I thought you two were still up-in-arms from the fight last week.”

“Burying the hatchet with a round. His up.”

“Oh, well, I can ring you later if you’re busy.”

From the other side, Sonia vaguely hears Leon saying, “Don’t hold back on my account.”

“You heard that?”

“Yes. You know, why don’t you just put me on speaker? I’ve got a question for you both.”

A few seconds later and a wave of sound hits her in the ear. _Ow._ “Can you hear me?”

“Well enough,” Leon answers.

“So first off, I heard that Hop has a congratulations party next Sunday.”

“Yeah, Mum is throwing it – oh hells! She asked me to ask you to come.”

“Mum and Dad told me, and I said I’d be there. They also said Raihan should come.”

“Oh, no question,” Leon agreed.

“Don’t think I’ve got anything going on. I’m chuffed you thought of me.”

“Great. Now, with that out of the way, I wanted to see if Leon’s visited Oleana yet.”

“No, I’m heading over there after we finish.”

“Drinking before business?”

“Frankly, I’d drink before dealing with Oleana myself,” Raihan says with a wry tone.

“I have a few questions to ask her, if you can remember them.” She rattles off a few thoughts, and he properly records them.

“Anything else?” Leon asks.

“Not unless either of you can tell me about the Legendary Birds.”

“Sure, what do you want to know?”

Sonia actually trips over her own feet on the way into the house. “Wait, what?”

“The Legendary Birds?” Raihan asks.

“Yeah. What do you want to know?”

“Uhm, okay, just hold on a tick,” she says, fumbling with her keys before diving into the house.

“Actually, if we’re to be talking about this, we should step out,” Leon said. There’s the sound of the chairs skidding on the floor, the sounds fading into the background, and finally a silence that’s almost palpable after all the noise. During that time, she’s pulled out her laptop and taken a seat at the kitchen table. “That’s a fair bit better.”

“What’s all this about?” Raihan asks.

“The Legendary Birds are the Kanto Region’s Legendary Pokémon trio. Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres.”

Sonia’s legitimately surprised that Leon could answer faster than she could. “I thought you were winding me up. Pretending you knew more than you really did.”

“I’ve always had an interest in the Legendary and Mythical Pokémon,” he says, almost defensive. “I didn’t come by the lab just to skive off work, you know.”

“Could have fooled me,” she mutters to herself, and Raihan snorts in amusement. “Anyway, please tell me what you remember about the Legendary Birds, particularly the ones here in Galar.”

“Oof, that changes things a bit.”

“Uh oh.”

“Well, it’s a bit of a messy situation. But I’ll try to help.”

“Might as well go for gold. Do you know where they are?”

“The Galarian Birds? Probably still in the Crown Tundra.”

Sonia’s heart stops beating for a second. “Wait, _still_? You know they’re there?”

“It’s been a few years since I’ve last visited, but I imagine so.”

“Holy highfaluting fuck!”

“I’ve not heard that phrase before,” he says, bemused.

“Me neither,” Raihan agrees. “She’s hanging around with questionable sorts these days, you know.”

“You don’t understand!” she almost yells before calming down. “Mum and I spent the day researching them, where all the major textbooks are saying there’s been no sightings of them for _millennia_ , and now you’re telling me you _know where they are?!_ Leon, are you really not taking the piss with me?”

“Of the many things I might tease you about, Pokémon are generally not one of them. And not when you’re in this sort of mood. Focused, I mean,” he quickly adds.

“HOW?”

“Promise not to tell anyone?”

“Yes, of course.”

Raihan immediately agrees. “Yeah, mate.”

“The Champions know.”

Sonia takes a moment to absorb that knowledge and roll it through her rattled brain. “So you, Gloria, Douglas, and Mustard know?”

Now a moment of hesitation. “I haven’t brought Gloria to them yet.”

“How come?” Raihan asks.

“Because… because they don’t really care for the Heroes.”

“Why?”

“I… don’t know. I just know what they’ve expressed.”

“So they won’t like Hop, either.”

“Are you planning on dragging my brother into danger?”

_Oooo, that’s a note of defensiveness I’ve not heard in a while_. “No. I promise.”

“Not that I want you hurt, either. Sonia, you aren’t about to do something terribly dangerous, are you?”

_Of course I am._ But before she can answer, Raihan says, “Of course she is. Don’t be daft.”

“Sonia, I’m quite serious. The Legendaries are no gentle beasts.”

“I am aware of the fact that they’re quite powerful. What happened when you went to visit them?”

He takes a moment to get his thoughts together before saying, “They felt the change in the air after Eternatus. Weren’t too keen on me, either, and made it clear that they did not intend to let themselves be seen by anyone who’s too close to the Legendary Heroes.”

_But I’ll bet_ I’d _be fine,_ she thinks to herself. “So if I gave you a map-” and she stops dead in the middle of that sentence because there’s no way on Groudon’s green earth that Leon could ever direct her to the Birds. _Well, hell._

“Afraid not. They’ve psychically embedded the memory of their location in my head. It’s the only place I can reach without a map or hand-holding.”

That sounds… convenient. Painful, but convenient. “Could we go together?” The words leave her mouth a second before her brain catches up, and then she immediately adds, “I mean, all of us. All three. If Raihan wants. But I just-”

“Slow down, Sonia,” Leon says, and she can almost hear the wheels turning in his head. “Why are you so interested in the Birds?”

“Can I promise to tell you on Friday?” The meeting.

He heaves a rather deep sigh. “I suppose. It’s a trek, though. The Tundra is not exactly a romp in the park.”

“I know,” and she remembers traveling down with her parents as a kid and seeing nothing but rolling hills of white shite as far as the eye can see and cold that stabs through the face and out the back. “But it’s important. Please.”

Something happens because their voices suddenly become muffled, and she realizes that Raihan put a hand over Rotom’s microphone. They talk for longer than she’s expecting, but finally the sound returns to normal.

“All right. If it means that much to you, then… yes, we can try to go,” Leon says. “Do either of you have a parka and snowsuit?”

“Somewhere. If not, I’ll buy one.”

“I got one, too.”

“Sounds good. We’ll hammer out the details on Friday, then?”

“Yes. And thanks, Leon, for trusting me with this. It’ll make sense soon enough.”

“You’re welcome, Sonia. Anything to help.”

“All right, you two. Go back to your little party or knees-up or whatever you’re doing.”

Raihan chuckles. “Thanks for the call. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Of course. Good night to you both.”

“Good night.” “Take care.”

She hangs up, and while things still don’t feel quite right between the three of them, she thinks that something must have changed for the better because it’s Raihan’s voice that she still hears long after their three-way conversation is over, and she likes it that way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes (10/06/2020): Getting input from two instead of one!
> 
> So you'll note I updated this the same day as Your World, mostly because it'll be a long time before I get to update this again. There's not a huge difference here, but Sonia's lean is towards Raihan instead of Leon, so getting information to her becomes a little roundabout. In a few chapters, we'll see a large divergence again, so I may do another bulk upload at that time.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
